Bon Secours Hospital (Photo by Jim Davis)

By Josh Wengler

HEMLOCK FARMS – Retired Milford physician Dr. David Malinov says he has no problem with the quality of care at Bon Secours Hospital in Port Jervis, but a patient transfer policy is doing some patients more harm than good.

Malinov says he has personally been involved in several cases involving critical care transfers from Bon Secours where the hospital offered patients no choice in which hospital they were sent to. In all cases, Malinov says hospital staff arranged transfers to Westchester Medical Center (WMC) in Valhalla, N.Y. without consulting patients or their loved ones.

“Where I live in Hemlock Farms,” Malinov said at a recent Pike County Commissioners’ meeting, “it makes no sense for us to take the two hour trip to Valhalla, New York for care when we have several hospitals in Scranton that can be reached in half the time.”

In one case, Malinov says he was at the hospital with a friend who had been in an accident on I-84 when Bon Secours staff informed him he would be transferred. Malinov says he introduced himself as a retired physician and asked ER staff to transfer his friend to Community Medical Center (CMC) in Scranton. He says he was told simply “No”. When he pressed the matter, the attending physician told him the transfer was already arranged, and if he wanted to take his friend to Scranton himself, he could.

“When I asked her if she was really suggesting I assume responsibility of a patient on a backboard, she just walked away.” Malinov said his friend, whose wife does not drive, ended up going to WMC.

In a case that touched even closer to home, shortly after Malinov’s daughter gave birth to his grandson, she was awakened at 2 a.m. and informed that an airlift had already been arranged to WMC for the infant, who was in respiratory distress. Malinov said he again tried to negotiate a transfer to CMC, where his daughter’s neonatologist was, but again was told simply, “No.”  He says his daughter is still trying to sort out the insurance ramifications of interstate medical care.

“I know Bon Secours is doing their job, and I admire them for it.” Malinov explained. “I know they are not equipped to handle severe trauma and the like, so they arrange transfers to get the patients the care they need. That’s fine, and if some people want to go to (WMC), that’s fine; but I can’t see making people living in Hemlock Farms, many of whom do not drive, endure the daily trauma of trips to Valhalla, N.Y. for visits. Just give them a choice. People aren’t even being asked now.”

Mary Decker, public relations manager for Bon Secours, said it’s hard to respond to an issue like this since she’s not allowed to look into individual cases for fear of violating HIPA laws that protect privacy in medical records. After looking into the hospital’s critical care transfer policies, however, she was able to explain how the hospital sees the issue.

“Without knowing the specifics of the cases,” Decker said in a telephone interview, “I can’t respond to specific allegations of what any one person in the E.R. did or did not do.” She explained that hospital policy calls for patients to have the right to choose where they are transferred, but the transfer won’t be arranged unless there is a physician waiting for the patient at the new location, as well as a bed and the ability to handle the treatment required.

Decker said WMH is designated by the Department of Health as the main tertiary care center in the northern metropolitan region, and is often the closest place where Bon Secours staff can send patients and know they will be received by a doctor who knows their case when they get there.

“We are trying to do the best we can for our patients.” Decker continued. “But that’s not always going to be the most convenient thing.” For example, in the case where the baby was life lighted to WMH in respiratory distress, Decker says the attending physician has no time to go and ask the parents where they would prefer to go. In a life or death situation like that, she said, seconds can save or end a life.

“I understand,” she concluded, “that sometimes it might be inconvenient to go to Westchester Medical Center rather than another facility, but would you rather be alive, or have everything the most convenient?”