Inglewood Hospital is Jeopardizing Patient and Staff Safety

There’s an old saying “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig“. The pig is Centinela Hospital Medical Center (CHMC) located in Inglewood, CA. Prime Healthcare, who funds the political campaigns of Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr., is putting the safety of its patients and staff at risk to the point of an “informational picket” that took place the week we are all giving “thanks”.

CHMC is the lone hospital in the city of Inglewood. While the city continues to romanticize the incoming NFL stadium, and high profile events that will be played in the city, we have to wonder if our hospital is capable of addressing emergency services in a safe manner? Does CHMC have enough staff?

The 2028 Summer Olympics, College Football Championships, World Cup, and of course the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers football will all be played in less than a mile from the hospital. Problem is, we now have to question if the facility can handle those events and any potential disaster that should arise at the stadium?

The California Nurses Association lists their political endorsements on their website and have only identified Sen. Steve Bradford, whose area includes Inglewood, as a local candidate they support. Noticeably missing is the Inglewood Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, who is rarely seen in Inglewood unless an act of God forces her too. Like a turkey giveaway.

The picket, organized by the California Nurses Association, addressed issues of patient safety, unsafe staffing and overall poor working conditions. Understaffing has led to a backed up emergency room, creating longer wait times and putting the lives of patients at risk, the association said.

Understaffing wasn’t the nurses’ only concern for patient safety. California’s safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratio law, which requires nurses to cover colleagues’ patients, can double the number of patients a nurse should be caring for, according to an association statement.

Inglewood residents regularly take to social media denouncing the extended wait times in the newly remodeled emergency waiting room, which extends to the triage area, once you’re lucky to have your name called upwards of hours after your arrival. The upgrades are nothing more than the equivalent of putting sugar on shit.

Mayor Butts controls the Inglewood based print media, who in turn feature regular advertisements from Centinela Medical Center, to shy away from printing negative comments about the lack of services and respect for their patients and staff.

A review of the hospitals Governing Board members include some familiar names. Gerard McCallum, who is the overseer to the NFL stadium project and Jan Vogel, who runs the Southbay Workforce Investment Board, who most recently leveraged the nonprofit, for a political campaign, for the Los Angeles Clippers. Are they concerned about the quality of care CHMC is alleging to provide?

Corporations in Inglewood have too cozy a relationship with Mayor Butts which translates into providing inferior quality products at our expense.

Related: Former Homeland Security chief concerned about safety of NFL stadium project in Inglewood

Heaven forbid a large scale disaster were to take place at the NFL stadium, is Centinela Hospital Medical Center equipped to handle the monumental task? Patients will surely die when they will have to be rerouted miles away to hospitals outside the Inglewood borders.