Tag Archives: Hospital

Orlando hospitals won’t charge nightclub shooting victims for care

Gunshot survivor Angel Colon is surrounded by doctors as he listens to remarks at a news conference at the Orlando Regional Medical Center o

By Colleen Jenkins

(Reuters) – Two Florida hospitals will not seek payment of medical bills from the dozens of people treated for injuries suffered in the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June, officials at the health facilities said.

The move leaves the hospitals with estimated unreimbursed costs topping $5.5 million, they said on Thursday.

Forty-nine people were killed and 53 were wounded by gunman Omar Mateen before police fatally shot him after a three-hour standoff inside the gay dance club on June 12.

Gunshot survivor Patience Carter is comforted by Dr. Neil Finkler as fellow survivor Angel Santiago looks on at a news conference at Florida Hospital Orlando on the shooting at the

Gunshot survivor Patience Carter (2nd L) is comforted by Dr. Neil Finkler as fellow survivor Angel Santiago (R) looks on at a news conference at Florida Hospital Orlando on the shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, U.S., June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young/File Photo

U.S. authorities said Mateen was self-radicalized and acted alone, without assistance or orders from abroad, to commit the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

“It was incredible to see how our community came together in the wake of the senseless Pulse shooting,” said Daryl Tol, president and CEO of Florida Hospital. “We hope this gesture can add to the heart and goodwill that defines Orlando.”

Florida Hospital treated 12 shooting victims at a cost of about $525,400, it said.

Orlando Health said in a statement that it expects to absorb costs exceeding $5 million after payments from funding sources such as insurance plans. Its main hospital, Orlando Regional Medical Center, treated 44 patients at its trauma center located a few blocks from the nightclub.

One patient hurt in the attack remains in guarded condition at the hospital, spokeswoman Sabrina Childress said in an email.

“During this very trying time, many organizations, individuals, and charities have reached out to Orlando Health to show their support,” Orlando Health President and CEO David Strong said in a statement. “This is simply our way of paying that kindness forward.”

The nightclub remains closed. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton made a quick stop at the memorial outside Pulse on Wednesday, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper reported.

(Reporting by Colleen Jenkins in Winston-Salem, N.C.; Editing by Bill Trott)

Suicide Bomber kills at least 70 at Pakistan Hospital

First responders and volunteers transport an injured man away from the scene of a bomb blast outside a hospital in Quetta

By Gul Yousafzai

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suicide bomber in Pakistan killed at least 70 people and wounded dozens more in an attack on mourners gathered at a hospital in Quetta, according to officials in the violence-plagued southwestern province of Baluchistan.

The bomber struck as more than 100 mourners, mostly lawyers and journalists, crowded into the emergency department to accompany the body of a prominent lawyer who had been shot and killed in the city earlier in the day, Faridullah, a journalist who was among the wounded, told Reuters.

Abdul Rehman Miankhel, a senior official at the government-run Civil Hospital, where the explosion occurred, told reporters that at least 63 people had been killed, with more than 112 wounded, as the casualty toll spiked from initial estimates.

“There are many wounded, so the death toll could rise,” said Rehmat Saleh Baloch, the provincial health minister.

Television footage showed scenes of chaos, with panicked people fleeing through debris as smoke filled the hospital corridors.

The motive behind the attack was unclear and no group had yet claimed responsibility, but several lawyers have been targeted during a recent spate of killings in Quetta.

The latest victim, Bilal Anwar Kasi, was shot and killed while on his way to the city’s main court complex, senior police official Nadeem Shah told Reuters. He was the president of Baluchistan Bar Association.

The subsequent suicide attack appeared to target his mourners, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, a spokesman for the Baluchistan government, said.

“It seems it was a pre-planned attack,” he said.

Police cordoned off the hospital following the blast.

Aside from a long-running separatist insurgency, and sectarian tensions, Baluchistan also suffers from rising crime.

In January, a suicide bomber killed 15 people outside a polio eradication center in an attack claimed by both the Pakistani Taliban and Jundullah, another Islamist militant group that has pledged allegience to Islamic State in the Middle East.

Quetta has also long been regarded as a base for the Afghan Taliban, whose leadership has regularly held meetings there in the past.

In May, Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed by a U.S. drone strike while traveling to Quetta from the Pakistan-Iran border.

(Writing by Asad Hashim; Editing by Paul Tait and Simon Cameron-Moore)

U.S. military punishes 16 over 2015 Afghan hospital bombing

Hospital beds lay in the Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. military will announce on Friday that has it taken disciplinary action against 16 service members over a deadly Oct. 3 air strike in Afghanistan that destroyed a hospital run by the international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, U.S. officials told Reuters.

The disclosure of the nonjudicial punishments will come during the release of the findings of a U.S. military investigation into the incident, which will broadly conclude that the strike was a tragic mistake, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

That finding is consistent with the results of a preliminary investigation released by the U.S. military in November, when commanders stressed that American forces did not intentionally target the hospital.

Instead, General John Campbell, who was then head of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, described a series of blunders that allowed the American forces to target the hospital, even though it was on a no-strike list.

MSF, known as Doctors Without Borders in English, has in the past publicly cast doubt on the idea that the strike could have been a mistake.

Forty-two people were killed in the incident and 37 were wounded as American forces helped Afghans repel Taliban insurgents from the city of Kunduz last year.

One general was among those singled out for disciplinary action, the officials said. The nonjudicial punishments include letters of reprimand, which could have a career-ending effect on the service members involved.

“These people are not promotable,” said one U.S. official.

According to the initial U.S. investigation, U.S. forces had meant to target a different building in the city and were led off-track by a technical error in their aircraft’s mapping system that initially directed them to an empty field.

The U.S. forces then looked for a target that was visually similar to the one they had originally sought, the former National Directorate of Security headquarters in Kunduz, which they believed was occupied by insurgents.

The Taliban’s brief capture of the Kunduz provincial capital was arguably the biggest victory for the militants in the 15-year war since they were toppled by U.S.-led forces in late 2001.

Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the departure of most foreign combat troops in 2014.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Bernard Orr and James Dalgleish)

23 Civilians Killed in Afghan Hospital Due to U.S. Airstrikes

A U.S.-led bombing accidentally hit a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, resulting in the death of 23 civilians.

The victims included 13 staff members and 10 patients. Three of the patients who were killed were children. Doctors Without Borders also reported that 37 people were wounded. One nurse recounted the terrible situation to the Huffington Post.

“There are no words for how terrible it was. In the intensive care unit, six patients were burning in their beds,” Lajos Zoltan Jecs said in an account posted on the MSF website.

She continued describing the situation. She watched colleagues die, heard patients calling out for help in all directions, and watched some of the staff just freeze, tears streaming down their faces.

General John Campbell addressed reporters at the Pentagon Monday. He stated that the strikes were called for by Afghan forces to protect U.S. forces.

“We have now learned that on October 3, Afghan forces advised that they were taking fire from enemy positions and asked for air support from U.S. forces,” he said. “An airstrike was then called to eliminate the Taliban threat, and several innocent civilians were accidentally struck.” Campbell also offered his condolences.

Afghan officials called the situation a tragedy, but have remained mute on the situation.

U.S., NATO, and Afghan officials are investigating the situation. Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), is demanding an independent investigation and calling the situation a “war crime.”

“Under the clear presumption that a war crime has been committed, MSF demands that a full and transparent investigation into the event be conducted by an independent international body,” the organization said. “Relying only on an internal investigation by a party to the conflict would be wholly insufficient.”

MSF reports that the series of bombings took place in 15 minute intervals between 2:08 a.m. and 3:15 a.m. Saturday. The charity added that the bombings continued even after U.S. and Afghan officials were notified that the hospital was being attacked.

Afghan police report that Taliban militants had been using the hospital compound as a hiding place, but Doctors Without Borders denied the claims.

The charity has since closed the hospital due the extensive damages to the building and equipment. In less than a week, MSF has treated 394 wounded people in Kunduz.

“There is no access to trauma care now for the civilians and for the wounded in the whole area of Kunduz, which is some kind of battleground for the moment,” said Christopher Stokes, the aid group’s general director.

ACLU Trying To Force Hospital To Perform Abortions

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington is attempting to force a hospital to perform abortions in their facility.

The lawsuit claims that Skagit Regional Health is violating a state law that requires medical facilities that provide maternity care to also kill babies via abortion.  The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a woman who is doctoral nursing student.

“As a woman and a health care provider, I care deeply about reproductive health issues. I want to make sure that women throughout Washington have access to the full range of reproductive health care services,” Kevan Coffey said in a statement. “And I personally want to have all options, including abortion, available to me.”

“The right of women to choose or to refuse to have an abortion is fundamental and has long been recognized under Washington law,” said ACLU Executive Director Kathleen Taylor. “We want to ensure that all women in our state can access the full range of reproductive health care at public health facilities in their communities.”

The state has said numerous times that hospitals have to provide abortion services if they want to provide maternity services.

“Jump Started By The Holy Spirit”

The mother of a Missouri teen believed to have died in a lake says that God brought her child back from the dead.

John Smith, 14, was playing with two friends on frozen Lake Sainte Louise when they fell through the ice.  While the other two boys were rescued, the initial rescuers couldn’t find Smith.  It took 15 minutes for rescuers to find his body.

Doctors at St. Joseph Hospital performed CPR for almost half an hour without success.  After being clinically dead for 45 minutes, the doctors called Smith’s mother into the room to break the bad news.

Dr. Ken Sutterer said that when Joyce Smith came into the room, she refused to accept that her son was dead and began loudly praying.

“I don’t remember what all I said,” Joyce Smith said. “But I remember, ‘Holy God, please send your Holy Spirit to save my son. I want my son, please save him.’”

Within minutes, hospital personnel were stunned.  John’s pulse returned.  He was rushed to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center where doctors were concerned that he would have permanent brain damage due to being without oxygen for at least 45 minutes.

Within 48 hours, Smith opened his eyes and responded perfectly to doctor’s questions.

“It’s a bonafide miracle,” said Dr. Jeremy Garrett, who tested Smith’s brain function.

Former Football Star Announces Opening of Children’s Hospital

Former football star Tim Tebow, roundly attacked by anti-Christianists for the open displays of his faith in his life, has announced that a children’s hospital is opening in the Philippines.

The Tim Tebow Foundation said that the former quarterback has been working since 2011 to build and obtain the operating license from the Philippine Health Department.  The hospital is already working to help impoverished children but will officially have a “grand opening” in spring 2015.

The five-story hospital was built in conjunction with CURE International, a non-profit that works to provide medical care for impoverished children.  The hospital will have 30 beds, three operating rooms and a staff of over 50.

“I have always had a great love and passion for the Filipino people,” Tebow, the founder of the foundation, said in a statement. “It is so exciting to be able to provide healing and care for these incredibly deserving children halfway around the world.”

With the opening of the Tebow CARE Hospital, the group will now have 12 hospitals around the world to help children in need.

Nebraska Hospital Prepares For Third Ebola Patient

A surgeon from Sierra Leone is being transported to Nebraska Medical Center to be treated for Ebola.

The doctor has legal permanent resident status in the United States.  Officials at NMC would not confirm the Saturday arrival of the patient but admitted they would be evaluating a patient for admission.

The State Department said they had been working with the family of the surgeon.

“His wife, who resides in Maryland, has asked the State Department to investigate whether he is well enough to be transported back to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment,” a State Department statement read.

Two patients, Dr. Rick Sacra and NBC cameraman Ashoka Mukpo, were successfully treated at the Nebraska facility.

It was not clear how the doctor was exposed to the virus.

Second Texas Healthcare Worker Positive For Ebola

A second nurse who treated Thomas Eric Duncan has Ebola.

The Centers for Disease Control says that not only does Amber Vinson, 26, have the virus, but that she also traveled on an airplane Monday just before she reported having symptoms.

Vinson had been monitoring herself after treating Duncan and self-reported a fever Tuesday morning.  She was immediately placed into isolation at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

She is the second of 77 healthcare workers who have been self-monitoring to watch for signs of Ebola.

The CDC says that Vinson lived alone and had no pets. Her home is being sanitized along with all her furniture, bedding and clothing incinerated.

The first nurse to show infection, Nina Pham, worked a different shift than Vinson and the two reportedly had no contact.

American Ebola Victim Making Progress

Doctors treating an American doctor who rushed to Liberia to assist after two previous American health workers were infected with Ebola say his condition is stable but it’s too early to say if he will recover.

Dr. Rick Sacra is in isolation at Nebraska Medical Center and is described as “very tired and stable.”

“We are encouraged by what we see, but it’s too early to say he has turned a corner,” Dr. Phil Smith told Fox News.  Dr. Smith said that Sacra is being treated with an experimental drug that is different than the ZMapp given to two previous American victims of the virus.

Dr. Smith also said that Dr. Sacra, while still very sick, has been keenly observing his condition and vital signs and is giving tips on the best way to provide his treatment.

Dr. Sacra’s family was able to visit with him through a video link for almost half an hour.

“He asked for something to eat and had a little chicken soup,” Debbie Sacra said in a statement.

The doctor had been serving with the Christian missionary outfit SIM, the same organization that previous victim Nancy Writebol had been working with in Liberia.