October 24,2010 - Current News Update: After Peter Sumaruck's surgical procedure in August, Providence Hospital in Waco, Texas sent Pete a smiley form letter asking if he would rate the service he received at Providence. He sent them a copy of this WVO report, and he gave a copy to his doctor. Then, the hospital sent Mr. Sumaruck a statement for $56.00, without an explanation. Mr. Sumaruck replied that he would be happy to pay this unspecified  fee but with the proviso that the hospital apoligize to him for the horrific way he was treated - their "bedside manner." Providence Hospital has not replied.

article from: Mon. 25 Oct, 2010 

Mistreatment at the hands of Providence Health Care Hospital, Waco, Texas

After esophageal surgery, earlier this month (August, 2010), Peter Sumaruck was asked to complete a comment form, inquiring about the quality of treatment, competency and compassion, he received at Providence Health Care Hospital.

On a regular basis, every several months, Mr. Sumaruck needs to have surgery to correct a collapsed esophagus (due to the effects of his experiences in the military). Mr. Sumaruck spends part of his time in Texas and part in California. There, he is on Medical because he is on disability due to several strokes and heart attacks. When he is in Texas, he has for seven years had this procedure done by the same doctor in Waco, who is familiar with his medical situation.

Providence Hospital accepts State and Federal monies. The operation is usually done in the doctor’s office but this time the doctor told Mr. Sumaruck, due to Medicaid regulations, the procedure must be done in the hospital - why would that stipulation be different now. The procedure takes 13 minutes and costs more than $7000.00. Mr. Sumaruck knows exactly how long it takes because he taped it - exactly 13 minutes. He is given Demerol, or  "a narcotic pain medication used to treat moderate to severe pain,” and is always allowed to sleep for any time from 3 to 5 hours, until the effect of the sedation wears off - usually 4 hours.

What happened to Peter Sumaruck.

Pete told me that after the operation, he woke up - eye to eye - with a nurse, her face up into his face, almost touching nose to nose. She was screaming, “get up, get up…wake up, wake up; you have to leave, wake up.” Screaming at the top of her voice. It had only been one and a half hours by everyone's clock. He was still sedated. He couldn’t raise his head, couldn’t sit up, certainly couldn’t stand.

I interviewed Pete’s neighbor, Barry Mohan, who had taken Pete to the hospital for the procedure. Barry told me, “I was going to wait for him, take him home. Before [the operation], they told me the doctor would talk to me later…about his condition, medication… I should wait. I was in a small room next to [where Pete was] Pete."

“I could hear [the nurse] her yelling, ‘Wake up, get up, get up…ya gotta wake up.’ She had to be real loud for me to [be able to] hear. ‘Sit up, sit up,’ she went on and on.”

“It was cruel. …And so loud, everyone nearby turned around, nurses coming, standing around - what’s going on? Some of the nurses apologized to me - I couldn’t figure out why they were apologizing to me; it didn’t make sense to me, why this was happening - one nurse kept on saying they were sorry. Embarrassed, and sorry, all the time while still, the nurse was screaming at Pete. It was awful.”

Barry went on, "Then we had to get Pete up and out of there." Now, Pete interjecting, "I couldn’t even stand up, had to be lifted - still sedated. I could hear the commotion, but didn’t have any strength…the nurse was still screaming. I don’t know why she was so angry." Pete went on, "Her face was right up into mine - screaming on and on. I could identify her if I have to."

Barry again, "Another nurse gave me some papers for Pete; I signed for him; he couldn‘t do it himself, and this other nurse still apologizing. They put him in a wheelchair to go to the car. He couldn’t get in by himself. He was mostly unconscious."

Why did one nurse have power over the other staff members to do something to a patient, that to the others, was obviously incorrect.

“The doctor never did come to talk to me, never saw the doctor after the operation," said Barry.

Pete told me, “I had chest pains, but I managed to take my pills.” In addition to the danger to Pete’s heart from the shock of being awakened in this manner, I have seen and heard Pete several times directly after his various previous surgeries - this time his voice was damaged. His voice did not improve for at lease a week; this had never happened before. Of course, if you are sedated and someone is in your face screaming at you, you call out to defend yourself. You don’t think to protect your voice; you are in shock; you don’t know what is going on and you don’t know why.

Good thing Barry was there.

This is not the first problem Pete Sumaruck has had with Providence Health Care Hospital. Several months ago, Pete needed to refill his prescription of Klonopin, and Vicodin. He ran out early because a man who worked for him stole 150 tablets from him.

Pete has a home surveillance system which showed the pills being stolen, but the hospital refused to view the still shot pictures offered to them. Pete and I talked about how he could have taken those pictures to the police but he said he did not want to feel responsible for a man going to prison for a very long time.

Pete Sumaruck tried to convince this nurse that he was a reputable and legitimate person, an inventor, that he comes to Texas to give demonstrations of his invention. Also, he told them that his chronic pain was a result of his military service, but that he had cut way back on pain medication since Jan. 2010. He mentioned that his doctor in San Francisco told him she was amused, “Pete, in all my 30 years as a doctor, you are the first person who has ever come to me to say they needed fewer pain pills.” Pete said to me, “Not what a guy would do if he was trying to cheat on his prescriptions.”

The people at Providence would not listen to Pete; the nurse took him to a room where armed guards stood duty, and told him, “Don’t ever bring a prescription to this hospital to be filled or refilled ever again.” Why couldn’t she simply speak to him in a regular office, speak to him as a regular patient or customer. Why say this to him in front of armed guards - he has prescriptions; he wasn’t a criminal. He is an upstanding citizen who obeys all laws.

Why has Peter Sumaruck been so poorly treated at Providence Health Care. Cruelty should not be their mandate.

The word “providence” means “divine guidance or care,” and from the Oxford dictionary - “protective care of God.” No matter what religion, most people believe in a loving God. We do not believe Mr. Sumaruck’s treatment at the hands of the healthcare providers at Providence had anything to do with divine guidance or protective care. This hospital should change their name.