Thursday, February 24, 2011

Killer Hospital in St. Joseph, Michigan

In Benton Harbor, the everyday vernacular for Lakeland Hospital has been "Killer Hospital" for eight or so years.

Sensationalism is not what we're after here, only truth. It is in this spirit we post another group of BH residents' experiences at Lakeland.

The BH community is well aware of what people go through at Lakeland; these unfortunate events should not remain concealed.

We are awaiting word from Lakeland that the hospital is using part of their enormous profits to hire an outside investigation of these allegations. It is well beyond the point at which an inside investigation would be appropriate.

1. Mr. Sawyer, age 20, was given incorrect diagnosis and medication. He died in the hospital. His family stated that white nurses were very disrespectful and forced the family out of the hospital after the death.

2. L. Anderson accompanied her mother to Lakeland to have a toe removed. The doctor mistakenly took off half of another toe as well. The patient was extremely upset. Smiling and laughing, the nurses joked about this patient having only three and a half toes.

3. Derrick Atkins had a kidney transplant in Chicago. Back home he wasn't feeling well so his wife Debra took him to Lakeland. His previous surgery was obvious to medical staff, but Debra reminded them anyways that her husband now required special medication. Incorrect medication was given to him. His wife took him to Chicago where doctors stated that Lakeland should have known better. He died in the Chicago hospital. Debra stated that Lakeland nurses and the doctor were unprofessional and rude.

4. Ora G. had a blood clot and was in a serious and dangerous health situation when she was taken to the Lakeland Intensive Care Unit. She was in pain and calling for help when a nurse arrived and said, "Don't you know we have other patients? I'll get to you when I can."

Information for Lakeland Hospital:

All patients have the right to freedom of choice of providers. Discharged planners/case managers have legal and ethical obligations to honor this right.

All patients have a common law right based upon court decisions to control the care provided to them, including who renders it. Thus, when patients, regardless of payer source or type of care, voluntarily express preferences for providers, their choices must be honored.

Federal statutes of the Medicare and Medicaid programs guarantee Medicare beneficaries and Medicaid recipients the right to freedom of choice of providers. When Medicare and Medicaid patients voluntarily express a preference for a home health agency, these choice must be honored. [Lakeland does not honor these choices.]

The balanced budget act of 1997 requires hospitals to develop a list of home health agencies and meet the following criteria: 1-Are Medicare certified,
2- Provide service in geographic areas where patients reside, and ask to be on the list.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Courageous Benton Harbor residents make names public

If you know the history of Berrien County, you know why it takes courage

---The nurses in the ER (not in the entire hospital - our mistake) were all white in the stories told by those who attended the NAACP meeting called by Rev. Pinkney---



Lakeland Hospital in St. Joseph, Michigan has been commonly referred to as "Killer Hospital" by the residents of Benton Harbor. This nickname has prevailed for about eight years.

Here are four more experiences shared at the NAACP meeting last Saturday. Names have been added to stories in the post below this.

1. Mr. Sims, who at this moment is fighting for his life, was a patient at Lakeland, and was misdiagnosed and given the wrong medication. He's now in the hospital in Ann Arbor.

2. Mr. Abdullah: After a simple, non-life threatening operation, he was given a blood thinner by a nurse which caused a blood clot. Abdullah is now unable to walk.

3. Mr. Swife (pronounced Swif) had pain in his arm. A spinal treatment was administered which included a long session of poking up and down his spine. Swife was unable to walk for 4 weeks. A white nurse was everything but friendly towards him.

4. Sally Smith reported for her husband Bradley: Mr. Smith was in ICU - his infection resolved, dyspnea (difficult breathing) unexplained, and surgical procedure to repair his heart valve pending - when he stopped breathing in early morning. He was put on a ventilator and his wife was called. She was treated rudely by a nurse who asked, "What do you want the hospital to do? Pull the plug?"

Monday, February 14, 2011

Misdiagnosis and Death

The focus was on Lakeland Hospital Saturday at a Benton Harbor NAACP meeting called by Rev. Pinkney. About 100 people attended, including 2 doctors and 5 city commissioners. Complaints and concerns were overwhelming. Racism, mistreatment, and misdiagnosis are what BH residents experience at the St. Joseph hospital. It is believed that BH residents have the highest infant mortality rate in the state of Michigan at Lakeland Hospital.

--One woman was told by a doctor that her family must leave the waiting room because white people were uncomfortable. Mary Rayner

--Another reported that a nurse told her colleague in front of the patient that she couldn't wait to scrub herself since she'd touched the patient; they both talked about how disgusting she was. Gloria

--A woman said that after her miscarraige, nurses place the stillborn baby between her legs for over 30 minutes; a doctor entered and, in anger, said he's never seen anything like it in his years of practice. Name withheld

--In another stillborn case, nurses repeatedly called the baby "it", laughing about it in front of woman who just went through labor. Sandra Bynum

--A woman's 70 year old mother died after being sent home right away after a difficult and serious surgery. Helen McKenzie (daughter)

--One woman with blood in her mouth was told by Dr. Stephens to go home, there were no rooms for her. Ambulance brought her back in an hour in worsened condition. She was put on life support - doctor told family to pull the plug. Mary Rayner

--Another woman's sister could barely breathe; a tube was shoved way too far down her throat, then put on life support. Again, doctor asked family to pull the plug. Dr. Hilpell was especially rude. Jackie R. (sister)

--A woman's mother waited to be treated for 12 hours in the ER and then died in the hospital. Joyce M. (daughter)

And this is only a sampling from Saturday's meeting.

The few African-American employees are mistreated. One with claustrophobia was forced to take the elevator, then fired. Sheila Duncan

*Please contact hospital VP Norma Tirado with your concerns. Contact info:

ntirado@lakelandregional.org
269-983-8549
269-982-4855 fax

Whirlpool Corp. and Rep. Fred Upton control Berrien County. The hospital has the same agenda as the court: Eliminate BH African Americans by any means necessary for redevelopment of the land.

Call Rev. Pinkney anytime 269-925-0001

Sunday, February 06, 2011

Victory in court!

and

Another Benton Harbor Man Convicted by ALL WHITE Jury

When people come together to work for justice, success IS possible!
A group of people from around Michigan fought with Rev. Edward Pinkney to free innocent Patrick Thomas from another in the endless illegal convictions imposed by Berrien County. Miraculously, a prosecutor announced on February 3 that she was dropping charges against him! Mr. Thomas IS FREE in the county where a "slavery mentality" still exists. This is no exaggeration.

All of our very best wishes go out to Thomas and his family.

HOWEVER, the fight continues. Below is the story of Loren Robinson, Josh Karamalegos, his father, and several others. It's a bizarre and convoluted tale, stinking of lies and framing by the court. Josh K. made up a story and the court decided to use it, building more lies into it. Whirlpool's media arm, The Herald Palladium, has published a total fabrication of the true story.

Read the actual events below, reported on bhbanco.org, Oct. 29 and Jan. 28. Then read what follows - the recent Herald Palladium "report."

Another Berrien County travesty: Benton Harbor man, Loren Robinson, gets 40 years. He was not even involved in the incident.

Black people continue to be removed from Benton Harbor (for the purpose of redevelopment of the land) to the brutal confines of Michigan prisons.

---------------------

Prosecutor, judge, and public defender used story invented by young white man from Niles, Josh Karamalegos, to remove Loren Robinson from Benton Harbor


Berrien County "Trial" this week turned out as expected: Benton Harbor man Loren Robinson, 26, convicted on four charges gets 40 years in prison. He was not involved in this incident.

Josh Karamalegos partied and did drugs with several BH African-American men on multiple occasions. On a recent visit to Benton Harbor, he concocted a story so his father would pay for the drugs. Prosecutor Jennifer Smith, judge Dennis Wiley, and public defender Jim Miller used this made-up story, along with an all-white jury, to convict Loren Robinson. Josh K., who was found in possession of a large quantity of crack-cocaine, IS FREE.

He smoked over two thousand dollars worth, but didn't have money to pay. He made up a plan to fake a kidnapping with the threat of murder so his father would come with the money. After his father and mother brought the money, father and son fought and the mother called police. They searched Josh and found a large quantity of crack cocaine.

****************

Benton Harbor man prison bound for extortion

[Such transparent sensational HP headlines - keep the lie going that BH residents are born criminals and deserve imprisonment]

By Scott Aiken [How do you live with yourself?], Herald Palladium, Thurs., Feb. 3, 2011

ST. JOSEPH - A Benton Harbor man faces up to 40 years in prison after being convicted of providing another man with crack cocaine and then holding him prisoner to extort money from the victim's father.
A Berrien County Trial Court jury last week found 21-year-old Loren Robinson guilty of four charges stemming from the March 6-7 incident. He is being held in the Berrien County jail pending sentencing on Feb. 18. [ALL WHITE JURY]
A co-defendant, Vincent Wiggins, 38, of Benton Harbor, was convicted of several charges last year and sentenced to 10-40 years in prison. [ANOTHER ALL WHITE JURY]
Robinson and Wiggins were arrested after Josh Karamalegus, 22, of Niles was held against his will and beaten in Benton Harbor, city police said. [Not held against his will-he asked to be hit so it would look serious to his father.]
Karamalegus met one of the assailants in jail, and after being released, he was picked up in Niles by the man so they could party together in Benton Harbor, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said evidence showed that Karamalegus brought along $200 and spent time smoking crack cocaine that one of the men provided in a house in Benton Harbor, but Karamalegus got more drugs on credit and the assailants demanded payment for it.
Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Smith said testimony showed that Karamalegus was held hostage, threatened and beaten [oh please] before his father, Tim Karamalegus, agreed to drive to Benton Harbor with $1,000 to pay his son's captors.
The assailants released Karamalegus after collecting the money in a parking lot off Napier Avenue in Benton Township. [Great word, "assailants."]
During his trial, Robinson raised an alibi defense, claiming he was with other people at the time of the offense, Smith said. [You can say he "raised an alibi defense," but Robinson speaks the truth.]
The jury found him guilty of extortion, cocaine delivery and unlawful imprisonment. He was also tried on a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm, but the jury returned a guilty verdict on a lesser charge of aggravated assault.
Wiggins is serving three concurrent sentences of 10-40 years in prison for unlawful imprisonment, extortion and assault with intent to do great bodily harm. [Berrien County has separate trials for the same incident for more drama, to instill more fear, and to spread more propaganda that BH is full of druggies and criminals.]

saiken@TheH-P.com

Friday, February 04, 2011

Police Brutality in the USA: Americans, Too Are Oppressed

by Paul Craig Roberts, Global Research, February 4, 2011

Police in the US now rival criminals, and exceed terrorists, as the greatest threat to the American public...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23076