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SIGN A PETITION: NGO MEDICAL VOLUNTEER & PATIENT SAFETY ACTIVIST WHISTLEBLOWER CALLING FOR YOUR HELP
May 10, 2006

Focus:Health
Action Request:Petition
Location:United States
The “JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL INVESTIGATION OF WHISTLEBLOWER’S DISMISSAL: demand Compliance Accountability” Petition is now posted on the Petition Site. 
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/938995258 

         This new Petition is to urge two highly respected, influential Doctors, the Dean/CEO of Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Edward D. Miller, and the Medical Director for the Center for Innovation and Quality Patient Care, Dr. Peter J. Pronovost to call for an investigation to uncover the truth and correct unsafe practices.  With your backing I may be able to rekindle the support I once enjoyed as a well respected, if outspoken, member of Johns Hopkins OR team.

         At a very early point in my five year Surgical career at Johns Hopkins I earned a letter of commendation from the Dean for advocating necessary changes in OR behavior to protect patient safety during Surgery. This occurred after a letter that I wrote was delivered to the Dean which then prompted months of interdisciplinary meetings to create: ”A Perfect day in the OR” culminating in an “OR Retreat.”   This innovative strategy involved hundreds of OR employees who were left feeling disillusioned and jaded when the initiative was abandoned as the Hospital’s priorities changed. 

         Getting the attention of that same Dean/CEO, Dr. Miller, and others empowered to make a real difference regarding this latest issue has proven impossible thus far.  If these safe patient care issues are important to you, then please seriously consider how adding your support to this Petition might become instrumental in enlisting Dr. Miller’s and Dr. Pronovost’s help in this matter.  If the content resonates with you at all it will take just 30 seconds to add your signature.

To link directly to the Petition and add your signature now, GO TO:   
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/938995258 

         If you have already signed the Petition, thank you for adding your support in accordance with your conscience. Please understand that I bear absolutely no ill will towards this prestigious medical institution or the many dedicated staff I was genuinely honored to work alongside during my five year tenure in the OR at Johns Hopkins.  All that I must still insist upon is a proper investigation.  I genuinely hope that Johns Hopkins may finally address the wider implications of uncovering the truth regarding inappropriate or inadequate compliance protections for whistle-blowers both within their own institution and at other US Healthcare facilities.  

However, if you have time read the entire Petition and review all of the included Links.         
         Please note that there are over 250 links to assist you in researching the subject of patient safety. Each of these links connects to a separate web page to provide a very balanced perspective on the most serious issues confronting medical professionals today.  Many of the links, including those featuring Johns Hopkins, demonstrate positive solutions and provide valuable information. Any and all links were inserted purely for this informative purpose; no support, agreement or endorsement is intended or implied by their inclusion in this Petition.  Reviewing these links will offer an in depth analysis of the current patient safety situation and how nonexistent employee protections in the US, and quite possibly in other countries including the UK, continue to endanger Hospital patients.  

         Despite the advice of so many people who insist I must “give up and just let it go,” I would judge such abandonment spineless and cowardly, considering the gravity of the patient safety issues I have raised. While I deeply regret that it has become necessary to choose this far more public course of action, the ignored priorities have left me no other option.  Allegations levied against specific members of the Hospital Management must be reviewed or proven solely based on valid evidence presented, past admissions and the facts as submitted to investigators. Those courageous enough to vigilantly advocate on behalf of patient safety deserve genuine, consistent and reliable protection from retaliatory Managerial practices. To correct this dangerous oversight, and restore the integrity of Johns Hopkins Compliance Line, new safeguards must be put in place immediately.  

         Wrongful termination can, and does, inflict lasting damage to professional credibility as job references are damaging or unobtainable under such circumstances. Those familiar with my conscientious efforts to supply vital warnings in good faith were appalled to witness the devastating consequences. This travesty has effectively silenced most former colleagues, potential witnesses and supporters who fear similar retaliation. On a personal level it still continues to sabotage all potential career prospects for me and now even jeopardizes my future commitments as an unpaid NGO Medical Volunteer overseas. 

         While potential legal options for recovering any type of personal compensation are no longer possible, I remain compelled to struggle for basic vindication. To this end I have begun working on documenting my experiences and the lessons learned in a book entitled: “ICONIC IMMUNITY.”  Meanwhile, in pursuing my current charitable endeavors, I would greatly appreciate garnering the moral support of valued former allies at Johns Hopkins including the Dean/CEO, Dr. Edward Miller. 

         Problems cannot be corrected by demonizing the messenger: this strongly discourages Hospital staff from reporting patient safety issues. When the bold and outspoken are punished; few will emulate their trusting naivety. The inappropriate cost-containment measures I have elaborated on in my Petition create the potential for negligent or dangerous under-staffing situations, but they are becoming more prevalent at Healthcare facilities throughout the US. Nurses and other medical staff are exposing these problems on the Internet on Nursing and Union Blog Sites.  They are appealing for action and media review of the widespread problems that Nurses are facing today.  This Petition, posted at the close of National Nurses Week seeks to draw attention to these very valid concerns.

Several links in my Petition visit these sites and my experiences are well documented on the allnurses.com Site under the name "Tsunami Kim;" GO TO:
http://allnurses.com/forums/members/105717.html    to read my profile page on the allnurses.com Website.  
http://allnurses.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1856805  to read my posts on the allnurses threads.  However, as you will see from many other postings I am certainly not alone in my plight. 

         Corporate greed drives the compromises made by a few rogue Managers. However, their flawed decision making cannot be ignored and tighter restrictions on staffing are desperately needed to adequately protect patients from harm.  While the misinformation and devious tactics used to silence my patient safety warnings remain unchallenged they will leave Hospital patients vulnerable to unnecessary risk and this demands the most urgent attention.  

         We must all work together for positive change to realistically improve patient safety and reduce medical errors.  With this Petition I am throwing down the gauntlet: challenging Johns Hopkins to genuinely persevere in their leadership role in reducing medical error by taking immediate action to facilitate the investigation into my case. I am confident that with your persuasion they will finally realize that they are duty bound to address the wider implications of uncovering the truth regarding inappropriate compliance practices that fail to protect whistleblowers or Hospital patients.  

         It is my greatest hope, and most ambitious expectation, that John Hopkins will use their influential position in healthcare improvement and patient safety organizations like the Center for Innovation in Quality Patient Care and the Center for Law and the Public’s Health to usher in far-reaching, national, industry wide, policy and regulatory changes.   

         For those of you living in countries other than the US, situations very similar to the problems illuminated here may well be already adversely impacting patient care within your healthcare system or moving steadily in this disastrous direction.  We certainly do not want to go down a similar road in the UK with the NHS!   In opening up an important dialog I believe that this Petition really can make a difference, both in the US and elsewhere, so please sign it and forward it to all of your friends for their consideration. 

         Sadly, I do not have the relief of knowing that vital initiatives I pioneered during my five year tenure in the OR at Johns Hopkins managed to make a lasting difference, but it is never too late to appeal for help. The Dean/CEO of Johns Hopkins, Dr. Edward D. Miller, may be contacted at: (410)955-3180 or via e-mail: emiller@jhmi.edu and the Medical Director for the Center for Innovation in Quality Patient Care, Dr. Peter J. Pronovost may be contacted at: (410)955-8032 or ppronovo@jhmi.edu  (These are all publicly available contacts.)  

         Johns Hopkins also hold “Town Meetings” at their main Baltimore Campus.  These open forums present an ideal opportunity where members of the public are encouraged to raise important issues and concerns such as this. Please urge these two respected, influential Doctors to do the right thing by insisting on the investigation and overhaul of Hospital Compliance practices to better protect patients from harm.  In the near future, with your help, I genuinely hope I will be able to enlist the full support of Dr. Edward Miller, and Dr. Peter Pronovost in my ongoing efforts to forward their noble patient safety agenda.                              
                 
Many Thanks,        Kim L. Sanders-Fisher. 


"The time is always right to do what is right" -
Martin Luther King, Jr.
    
Visibility: Everyone
Posted: Wednesday May 10, 2006, 10:22 am
Tags: human rights safety nursing employment healthcare whisteblower retaliation [add/edit tags]

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Luisa S. (135) 		Monday July 31, 2006, 2:14 pm
No you should not give up and I understand. Thank you for all your hard work.

Cheryl Sunshine Benson (524) 		Wednesday August 2, 2006, 8:23 am
I am a victim of malpractice & negligence which has been covered up by hosptials & doctors involved and also our Ministy of Health here. We need integrity back in our medical systems, politians helping not contributing to the problem, and easy recourse for those damaged, often many by the same doctor or hosptial practices. A UK study found that they teach medical students to LIE, here in Toronto, Canada, it;s part of the course, even if not on paper. Whistle Blowers are no more than honest humans not following the private code of secrecacy at any cost including human life, which actually medically often comes doen to premeditated murder. The stigma of even the name WHISTLEBLOWER needs to be removed AND THEY NEED TO BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS, BY PROTECTING THEM, THEY WILL IMPROVE THE SYSTEM, STOP THE COVER UPS AND LIES, AND SERVE THE PEOPLE AS THEY ARE MEANT TO DO.

Past Member (0) 		Thursday August 3, 2006, 6:57 am
As a fellow nurse, I wholeheartedly agree that this should not just be "overlooked". You are doing something about it and I am so happy to see that! We need more people in the medical field to be patient advocates!!! Thank you for being a strong, honest person...wish there were more people out there like you.

Past Member (0) 		Sunday August 27, 2006, 9:26 pm
It is good an investigation will continue,there is absolutely no excuse for malpractice.patients need to know they are absolutely with the best,safest,surest care. I have signed the petition.
We need to remember all the other good doctors of integrity too.A good book of them is ,M.D.DOCTORS TALK ABOUT THEMSELVES BY JOHN PEKKANEN published by Bantam doubleday Dell Publishing Group.Inc.

Mary C. (5) 		Wednesday February 6, 2008, 3:22 pm
I'm with you!

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Kim Sanders-Fisher
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