County Studying Valencia Hospital’s Respiratory-Staff Trims

Two county health inspectors interviewed staff and examined records Thursday at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia to assess the effect of recent cutbacks in personnel who care for patients with breathing problems, a county official said.

A report on the inspectors’ findings will be issued next week, said Bud Pate, supervisor of the licensing division of the county Department of Health Services.

In June, the 134-bed hospital cut six full-time and several part-time positions from what had been the equivalent of 15 full-time respiratory therapists. These specialists, among other duties, administer some drugs, analyze blood gases and maintain machines that help patients breathe.

There is now one respiratory therapist on each shift, according to hospital officials, and many aspects of respiratory therapy have been transferred to the nursing staff. Leann Strasen, a hospital vice president and director of nursing, said the change will save $300,000 a year without cutting the quality of patient care.

Many hospital employees, however, have complained that nurses have insufficient training to operate respiratory equipment. They said having only one respiratory therapist per shift might mean that the staff could not handle more than one respiratory emergency at a time.

If the county inspectors find the staffing to be inadequate, the licensing division will issue a “statement of deficiencies,” Pate said.

Strasen played down the significance of the visit. “The health department can come any time to an institution to see if you’re doing appropriate things,” she said.

Pate said the inspection was prompted by a recent Times article on the hospital controversy.