PA physician employs state whistleblower law to report problems at hospital
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
May 18, 2005
A former physician with the West Penn Allegheny Health System has reported the group to the state using a law that shields employees from retribution, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review.Pennsylvania is the first state in the country that requires hospitals to report adverse events to a central board. The whistleblower provision was part of that legislation. The physician in question, David M. Lemonick, MD, has sued the medical group, claiming that Bloomfield Hospital was consistently kept in an unsanitary condition and that nurses routinely delayed in submitting blood samples for testing.
Hospital representatives said they investigated Lemonick's claims and found them without merit. The group plans to defend itself against the lawsuit. Lemonick was a troublemaker at the facility who could not work professionally with others, alleges the spokesman, Thomas Chakurda.
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