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SUNDAY'S CHILD
Sunday's Child "Christopher" 2/7/10
Just in time for the Winter Olympics, CBS 7’s Tatum Hubbard hit the ice with a very athletic 15-year-old for a little "speed skating."
Just in time for the Winter Olympics, CBS 7’s Tatum Hubbard hit the ice with a very athletic 15-year-old for a little "speed skating."
Winkler Co. Hospital Administrator Responds to State Report 11/20/09
CBS 7 News
bberman@cbs7.com
November 20, 2009
Kermit, Texas -
Winkler County Memorial Hospital is in danger of losing its Medicare funding after a state investigation found major problems at the facility.
From handing out medications without a prescription to stitching a piece of rubber to a patient, Winkler County Memorial has to fix several errors or else it could lose thousands of dollars in funding.
We asked administrator Stan Wiley how these things happened under his watch and how he plans to stop them from occurring in the future.
The Texas Department of Health and Human services report lists several violations at Winkler Co. Memorial committed by Doctor Rolando Arafiles and the hospital itself. They were violations under the watch of administrator Stan Wiley.
"Medicare is correct. We were in violation of our bylaws", he says in response to the report.
But how was Doctor Arafiles allowed to hand out "oxygenated olive oil" to a patient from his car without a prescription?
"We're talking about medical doctors with MD degrees. They're not intentionally going to violate rules", says Wiley.
"So he did that on accident then? The olive oil from the car?", we asked.
"I couldn't say what his thought process was”, said Wiley.
Wiley says Arafiles is loved by many in the community and has saved lives. But the state documents a record of medical misconduct.
"We did ask him... why did you do that? His answer was pretty good. I didn't want the gentleman inadvertently touching something when I just stitched it up. So, he put a rubber tip on the end of it. Do we agree with that? No", said Wiley.
While Arafiles purposely stitched the rubber cap to a patient and performed a surgery in the ER that was not allowed by the state, Wiley says those are just a few errors out of thousands of procedures by the Doctor.
"We don't have an ongoing problem of any nature with Dr. Arafiles", said Wiley.
What about the state's finding that discrimination took place regarding employee reporting with Vicki Galle and Anne Mitchell, who were terminated after reporting Dr. Arafiles to the Texas Medical Board.
"The hospital does not agree that what we did was discriminatory”, says Wiley.
Mr. Wiley explained that after each of Doctor Arafiles' foul ups, he was simply told by the hospital board to "not do it again". The problem is that more than two months after a surprise inspection, the state has yet to tell the hospital whether they are in compliance, and whether they could lose their Medicare funding, valued at $170,000 a month.
"You do not mess with Medicare", said Wiley.
That's why the hospital's amended its bylaws, vowing to reaffirm the hospitals' rules.
Last night the hospital board pondered ways to get more physicians to practice in Kermit, something Wiley said is almost impossible to do.
"You pay pretty honorable money to get them to come to your area and then you try to get them to stay", he explains.
After medical misconduct, two nurse terminations, and a state investigation. The question is, at what cost?
