SCHENECTADY Crowd says goodbye to St. Clare’s Hospital taken over by Ellis offering urgent care BY MICHAEL GOOT Gazette Reporter
With candles and tears, about 70 people on Sunday gathered to say goodbye to an “old friend” — St. Clare’s Hospital. The hospital on Friday surrendered its operating license as a Catholic health-care facility and is now a subsidiary of Ellis Hospital. As of midnight, its new name is the Ellis Hospital McClellan Campus. Ellis Hospital officials are changing St. Clare’s into an urgent care service that will no longer be operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Its emergency room will remain open. Critical care and inpatient services are being transferred to Ellis Hospital and maternity services to Bellevue Woman’s Health Center. The crowd gathered in front of the main entrance at 8:30 p.m. for a half-hour candlelight vigil. They sang “Amazing Grace” and said the Lord’s Prayer before people offered spontaneous tributes. Chris Rakus, a nurse in the emergency care department, said even though the name will change, the essence will remain the same. “It will be the same people and the same spirit working in the emergency room,” she said. “We have to go forward and we have to do what’s best for Sche- nectady. We just love you and we’re going to miss you St. Clare’s.” Local resident Jane Sullivan said the hospital always had a reputation for helping the less fortunate. “It didn’t matter if you didn’t have money or you didn’t have health insurance, you were never turned away,” she said. Her daughter, Marybeth Pallack of Niskayuna, has been a maternity ward nurse for the last 25 years. She is moving to Bellevue. Pallack said she worries that Schenectady women will lack transportation to access pregnancy services there. Laurie Briskie, a 23-year nurse in the emergency room, said she never thought this day would come. She expressed hope for the future. “Change is hard but it takes time. I’m sure it will be fine,” she said. Teresa Yates-Dundas, who has been a nurse for almost five years, said she didn’t understand the decision, given that the hospital was still very busy. Even former staff members returned to the hospital for the vigil. “I’m here to say goodbye to an old friend,” said George O’Connell, a former vice president who retired nine years ago. “You had a special feeling when you walked in the hospital. There was a real sense of caring. It was more than a job to everybody.” He said he did not agree with the changes, which was an outgrowth of the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century — also known as the Berger Commission — stating that Schenectady needed to reduce the number of medical beds provided. “There’s not much you can do about it. Money makes the world move,” he added. The vigil was organized by Elisabeth Smith, an operating room nurse at St. Clare’s. She said a fellow colleague said that they should do something to say goodbye to the facility. “I think it was a great thing to do for people who have been there for so long,” she said. She said that some people are still confused and upset about the changes. She said it is tough to see the third floor of the building is a “ghost town” as departments have been transferred. “In our heart, it will always be St. Clare’s,” she said. Linda Bachon of Niskayuna, left, and Debbie Kopec of Niskayuna, right, attend a candlelight vigil Sunday at St. Clare’s. Both women worked in the X-ray department together for over 30 years. MEREDITH L. KAISER/ GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
It’s with sadness that our family bids farewell to St. Clare’s Hospital and the wonderful people within its doors. When our son was growing up, he was afflicted with a kidney disease that required frequent hospitalizations at St. Clare’s. Many of those admissions were for weeks at a time. St. Clare’s became a home away from home for our family. There are numerous people to thank and remember. We credit each and every one of them for helping us raise such a fine human being; the doctors and nurses, who would let him cook breakfast for them in the staff kitchen and who, when time allowed, would stop in to play a game of Atari; the dieticians and kitchen staff, who would walk to Price Chopper to get him something he loved to eat when the kitchen didn’t have it; the pastoral care providers, who always made time to stop in and play cards with him while we worked; the laboratory and IV teams, who always made drawing his blood or starting an IV bearable for a 5-year-old; the cleaning staff, who would always clean his room with a smile and carried on conversations with him that left him looking for them the next day. There are so many wonderful people there who helped us through that diffi cult time in our lives. There really are too many acts of kindness to mention here. Our family thanks you all. In our hearts, you will always be St. Clare’s Hospital. RICHARD AND ELIZABETH ALLEN Scotia
Someone who works, still, at St. Clares (and I will always call it St. Clares), said that Ellis will be setting up a shuttle service since they don't have enough parking.
By the looks of the Ellis Hospital Emergency Center on June 13, you would have thought that there had been a major health crisis in the city of Schenectady. On that night we had the unfortunate experience of having to go to the emergency room for treatment for one of our family members. I understand that a visit to an emergency room can be a tedious and an unpleasant experience, but what we experienced at Ellis that night was truly unacceptable. The emergency room was understaffed, ill-equipped and disorganized, and it was really frightening to see the emergency room and adjacent hallways filled with patients that were obviously not receiving the emergency care they were in need of. Emergency doctors and surgeons were unavailable for hours, and the poor nurses who were trying to provide the best care for patients were unable to consult with doctors. I don’t know why we didn’t receive prompt and appropriate care that evening; this certainly isn’t the excellent medical care that our family has been accustomed to at Ellis. Could it be because of the merger between the two hospitals? Until there is an answer and the situation is rectified, I know that our family will be questioning what hospital we will go to in case of an emergency. MICHELLE SAUSA-GATTA Niskayuna
I have a friend that is an EMT. He said that Ellis is in total chaos. He said that the ambulances are stacked outside waiting to get in. It took him 1/2 hour just to get his patient 'in' the ER. He said that the nurses and doctors in the er are at each others throats. The are way way understaffed for the influx of er patients. He said that they are sending them away to Albany Med cause they can't handle them all. They can only take a patient to St. Clares for small problems, like stitches or the like. He said that St. Clares isn't adequately staffed either. He said that you are lucky if you can find a doctor.
So folks, I believe that it is time to write everyone in power right up to the governor, because it is the 'governments' fault that we are in this position to begin with. And Ellis' CEO just couldn't wait to grab the power.
Let's not wait until one of our loved ones dies in an ambulance 'waiting' to get into the ER. This is all just utter nonsense and very very poor planning.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I would like to share my firsthand experience with the recent “merger” of Ellis and St. Clare’s hospitals. One recent evening, I experienced acute kidney pain. I called my primary care physician first thing the following morning and was advised to go to the emergency room. I arrived at the Ellis emergency room at approximately 9:45 a.m. I signed in, and, shortly thereafter, a nurse took my vital signs and gave me a wristband with a printed time of 10:05 a.m. After a two-hour wait, I was taken to my “room” — which was a gurney in the hallway adjacent to the nurse’s station. It was now noon — and this would be my “home” for the next 11 hours! The doctor saw me and informed me he would have to run a series of tests. My blood was drawn on four separate occasions, and I would like to note that blood work to the lab for each sample took approximately two hours — so do the math. After spending the majority of my day waiting patiently for the test results, I was finally allowed to take one final test, a CAT scan. The total time I spent in the ER was over 13 hours. I think this is unacceptable by any standards! Also, at what point does a patient receive food? Is it after 6, 8, 10, or 12 hours? The only sustenance I received the entire day was the cup of water given me along with some pain pills. I would also like to note that my wife attempted to visit me and staff wrongly informed her that I was not present! After much confusion she finally was able to find me, thanks to her own doctor’s intervention. If this is going to be normal operating procedure for the new Ellis ER? If so, then administrators really need to fix or adjust it! In closing, I would like to extend many thanks to the doctors and all nurses on all shifts that I witnessed. They were gracious, apologetic and dedicated to their profession. DENNIS GAVIGAN Rotterdam
I just heard a story that a 93 yr old woman (3 months post stroke) went to the ER at Ellis on Sunday complaining of lower back/hip pain. They, after several hours, sent her home with a diagnosis of "tendonitis".
Well guess what, she's back in the ER (this time St. Clare's) who actually DID an x-ray ... and found out she's got a severely fractured hip and it may require REPLACEMENT. Now they've got to load her in an ambulance and take her to Ellis to be treated / surgery.
My father in law was taken to Ellis ER by ambulance last night at 7pm. He could not breath or urinate. There is a whole medical history to this but that would take too long to type and my fingers would get tired. So anyway, he sat in the packed waiting room when finally at 1 a.m. he was taken in. By 7:30 a.m. (12 hours later) he was diagnosed with CHF, (congestive heart failure). The ER doctor told us that he would have to be admitted and a cardiologist would have to be called. We asked when we could expect a bed to be available for him. The doctor told us that he has 8 patients that have been in the ER for 2 days waiting for a bed. Every ER room was filled and their were beds with patients lined up in the halls.
The good news is, the doctor told us that the State Health Dept was there checking on the progress of this merger and how it was working. I believe that the State Health Dept has gotten several calls about the over capacity of the Ellis ER. One nurse told us that Ellis is going to expand the ER to a 2 level emergency facility. But that won't happen for 3 years.
Let me say that the nuses and doctors were professional and did their job. They just can NOT meet the demand!
Whether Ellis welcomed this merger or not, it is not working! St. Clares needs to be equipped, available and re-opened until Ellis can provide the medical care needed to us. I intend on contacting the State Health department and state this entire experience.
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So anyway, he sat in the packed waiting room when finally at 1 a.m. he was taken in. By 7:30 a.m. (12 hours later) he was diagnosed with CHF, (congestive heart failure). The ER doctor told us that he would have to be admitted and a cardiologist would have to be called. We asked when we could expect a bed to be available for him. The doctor told us that he has 8 patients that have been in the ER for 2 days waiting for a bed. Every ER room was filled and their were beds with patients lined up in the halls.
