Roaches in the operating room: Doctors at HCA hospital say patient care has suffered from cost-cutting

“On Dec. 7, 2021, more than a dozen surgeons convened a meeting at their hospital, HCA Florida Bayonet Point in Hudson, Florida. Their concerns about patient safety at the 290-bed acute care facility owned by HCA Healthcare Inc. had been intensifying for months and the doctors had requested the meeting to push management to address their complaints,” Gretchen Morgenson, Anna Schecter and Cynthia McFadden write for NBC News.  “Unsanitary surgical instruments, inadequate monitoring of ICU patients, an overflowing emergency department, anesthesiology errors that resulted in patients waking up while in surgery — all were allegations ripe for discussion. The meeting soon took an extraordinary turn, four doctors who attended told NBC News. With a hospital administration official on hand to hear the answers, the group was asked two questions. Is the hospital providing a safe environment in which to perform surgery? ‘No,’ everyone in the group answered, according to the four doctors. Is it a dangerous place to practice? ‘Yes,’ came the unanimous reply.  The hospital administrator promised to address the doctors’ issues, attendees told NBC News. But more than a year later, little has changed, they said. A spokeswoman for the hospital declined to comment on the meeting.  HCA Healthcare Inc., owner of Bayonet Point, is America’s largest hospital company, operating 182 hospitals and 125 surgery centers across the nation and in the U.K. HCA is highly profitable — last year it earned $5.6 billion — and its stock is an investor favorite.” Gretchen Morgenson, Anna Schecter and Cynthia McFadden, “Roaches in the operating room: Doctors at HCA hospital in Florida say patient care has suffered from cost cutting,” NBC News.