Connect with us

Colorado

Colorado legislators demand answers from Aurora VA about patient safety, halt in surgeries due to mysterious residue

Published

on

Colorado legislators demand answers from Aurora VA about patient safety, halt in surgeries due to mysterious residue


Colorado’s senators and a congressman are demanding answers from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs leadership over a series of troubling reports about its Aurora hospital.

Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, both Democrats, and Rep. Jason Crow, an Aurora Democrat, sent a letter to VA leadership on Monday requesting an accounting of patient safety issues, further explanation over its current pause in surgeries due to a mysterious residue on its medical equipment, and steps the hospital has taken to address pervasive cultural problems among its staff.

“As problems persist within the (Eastern Colorado hospital system), we are increasingly concerned about the quality of care Colorado veterans receive, a lack of adherence to the required medical and employee procedures, and how recent leadership changes have impeded the system’s effectiveness,” the lawmakers wrote.

The letter comes on the heels of two scathing reports from the VA’s Office of Inspector General, which investigates departmental waste, fraud and abuse.

Advertisement

The probes, released June 24, found Aurora’s Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center paused surgeries for more than a year in 2022 and 2023 because the hospital didn’t have the staff to care for those patients after their procedures. They never told the federal VA as required, the investigation found.

The second inspector general report said the Aurora VA suffered from poor organizational health, citing widespread fear among staff that promoted disenfranchisement. Doctors stopped performing high-risk procedures, one staffer said, for fear of punishment if something went wrong.

The investigation mirrored The Denver Post’s reporting since last fall, which found the toxic workplace and culture of fear had permeated a wide swath of departments, leading to high turnover, especially among senior leadership positions. The Post also found that the head of the hospital’s prosthetics department was instructing employees to cancel veterans’ orders to clear a large backlog. The VA later confirmed The Post’s reporting.

Bennet, Hickenlooper and Crow, in their letter, asked the VA to respond to a series of questions, including detailed queries about the mysterious residue that has halted hundreds of surgeries since April. The Post first reported in May that the hospital was rescheduling or referring to community hospitals all surgeries that rely on reusable equipment.

The elected officials also asked the VA about staffing shortages at the hospital network, along with reports that many veterans in the system have been waiting months for their first face-to-face appointment with a provider.

Advertisement

“We share the goal of providing veterans across the country with timely, quality and consistent health care,” the letter states. “The continuous appointment delays and ongoing quality issues at (the hospital) undermine this objective.”

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get health news sent straight to your inbox.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Colorado

Joe Rogan’s Colorado move due to health reasons—”blame it on my wife”

Published

on

Joe Rogan’s Colorado move due to health reasons—”blame it on my wife”


Joe Rogan has said that the reason he and his family moved around Colorado—before leaving altogether—was because his wife was pregnant.

Rogan tied the knot with former model Jessica Ditzel in 2009, whom the podcaster shares two teenage daughters with—Lola and Rosy. He also adopted Ditzel’s daughter, Kayja Rose—whose father is reportedly the late singer Keven “Dino” Conner—the same year.

The UFC commentator is known for sharing his opinions on his popular podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, whether it’s his concerns with social media or mocking Jill Biden for supporting President Joe Biden, but Rogan usually keeps quiet about his personal life. However, during Thursday’s episode of his show, the 56-year-old spoke with comedian Sam Tallent about his decision to move from Denver, Colorado.

Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for Rogan for comment Tuesday.

Advertisement

“Colorado had a shot at you, man,” Tallent said before Rogan asked him: “Did it?”

Joe Rogan looks on during the UFC 273 event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on April 9, 2022, in Jacksonville, Florida. He has said that the reason he previously moved around was because his wife…


James Gilbert/Getty Images

Tallent continued: “I remember when that happened, when you moved up to Boulder for a minute.”

“Blame it on my wife; she got pregnant. When she got pregnant, we had to go back but yeah, I was planning on just going Buck Wild in Denver. That’s—that was my plan,” Rogan responded.

Tallent said it would have been valuable to Denver to have Rogan in that city, before Rogan added: “Well, we could always do a Mothership there one day.” This refers to Comedy Mothership, which is Rogan’s comedy club and bar that he opened in Austin, Texas.

In 2008, Rogan and Ditzel moved to Gold Hill, Colorado, but eventually decided to move from Colorado altogether. They returned to Southern California four months later when Ditzel found out that she was pregnant. During a previous episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan told guest Dan Carlin that they left Colorado because of its high elevation.

Advertisement

“I was there for four months. We planned on living there for a year, then maybe permanently. But, along the way, my wife got pregnant and we were at 8,500 feet above sea level. And it was just, it’s brutal,” Rogan said.

“They say that Colorado in general, like around the Denver area, has a very high rate of premature births and low birth weight because of the lack of oxygen.”

The family settled down in Bell Canyon, California, for several years before they decided to purchase a home on Lake Austin in Austin, Texas in 2020.

Rogan has previously spoken about the family’s eventual decision to move to Texas. During his appearance on the Oil and Whiskey podcast, Rogan was asked why he decided to leave California.

“You know, I was, like, a lot of my friends were very skeptical because I was saying early on in the pandemic, I’m like getting the f*** out of here. I mean this place is going to s***. And they’re, like, ‘It’ll be fine. It’s gonna turn around; it’s just everything’s crazy right now,’” he said.

Advertisement

“I go ‘Things don’t get better, man. They don’t get better under this government. They don’t get better under these people. Like, they’re clamping down on rights, they’re clamping down on our ability to do things.’ I’m like ‘I’m gonna get the f*** out of here.’”

Rogan also revealed how happy he was with the decision to move, saying: “Austin is a f****** great town! The people are cool as hell; the food’s amazing; and it’s a great live music scene. It’s just a great place to live and for comedians.”

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Colorado

Colorado Parks and Wildlife reminds pet owners, “Don’t turn it loose” following exotic Patagonian Mara sighting

Published

on

Colorado Parks and Wildlife reminds pet owners, “Don’t turn it loose” following exotic Patagonian Mara sighting


DENVER (KKTV) – CPW reported that they suspect the exotic Patagonian Mara seen in Colorado is an abandoned domesticated pet.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported that a Patagonian Mara was recently seen in a park in Lakewood. They believed that the Patagonian Mara may have been an illegal domesticated pet that was abandoned by its owners.

They said they are continuing to search for the Patagonian Mara. CPW hopes they can find it and put it in an “appropriate institution” to be properly cared for.

Following the exotic animal sighting, CPW wanted to remind pet owners to never release unwanted pets into the wild as it poses risks to the pet and the community.

Advertisement

Whether a native or non-native species, domestic animals typically cannot fend for themselves in the wild, causing risks in finding food and shelter. Releasing domesticated pets into the wild can also introduce new diseases, parasites and dangers for wild species.

CPW says that unwanted pets can be surrendered to local shelters, or owners can contact animal control for other options. To surrender exotic wildlife, owners need to contact CPW’s office for further directions.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife asks anyone who experiences a Patagonian Mara sighting to report it to 303-291-7227.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Colorado

With five more human bird flu cases reported, number of infected this year more than doubles

Published

on

With five more human bird flu cases reported, number of infected this year more than doubles


On Sunday, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced a total of five human cases of avian influenza in workers responding to the outbreak at a commercial egg layer operation. Four cases have been confirmed, and the fifth is “presumptive positive and pending confirmation at CDC.” Previously, there were four confirmed cases in humans following exposure to dairy cows, as well as one case from poultry from 2022. 

According to the announcement the workers had “mild symptoms” and none were hospitalized. Specifically, they had pink eye and “common respiratory infection symptoms.” Public health officials suspect the workers got infected by working directly with infected poultry. On Friday, the CDC said the risk to the general public remains low. “There are no signs of unexpected increases in flu activity otherwise in Colorado or in other states affected by H5 bird flu outbreaks in cows and poultry,” the agency said.

This latest development is one part of a multi-month story. In late March, a worker on a commercial dairy farm in Texas developed a case of pink eye. He eventually tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza Type A H5N1, also known as bird flu. Scientists were shocked to find out that cattle, not birds, were the host — and that large amounts of H5N1 were found in the infected cattle. As Salon has previously reported, experts have raised concerns that more human cases than those that have been reported have gone undetected since then. 

Advertisement

Notably, the Colorado workers are believed to have been infected by poultry, not cattle. This news follows a report that suggested the bird flu is mutating to better infect humans.

Read more

about public health



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending