The Bottom Line

It is deeply disturbing to read the defensive response of James  and CEO and Pat Komoroski, President of SSM DePaul Health Center regarding The Post-Dispatch coverage of the death of young patient, Alexis Evette Richie at SSM. Go to link: http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_ae9bfda0-2cf8-571c-8c94-a9f4edd83360.htm The tragic negligent sequence of events unnecessarily terminated her short life. It is a fact of life that errors happen as cavalierly stated by the SSM officials. However, I've known mistakes that were not "life and death" dealt with in a more severe manner culminating in termination of the culpable employee. It is a bitter pill to swallow when an innocent is terminated through negligence or ineptitude. Accountability and consequences are inevitable and just.
Although the Post-Dispatch may have juxtaposed some sequential facts, they have not committed criminal action, intentionally or inadvertently. The bare bones are that the direct intervention of SSM DePaul personnel in St. Louis, MO is responsible for the death of this young woman.   If in fact, officials at SSM DePaul are devastated and sympathetic to the patient and family, I hope part of their support enforces that the bottom line of this institution is not monetary and they provide some stress relief to the family in putting their money where their mouth is. Recognizing culpability and providing familial support in this situation would be to ensure that the family is not billed for services rendered...or inflicted. Compensation for their grievous errors will come later. Trust and confidence will be harder won.