`i'll Do Anything' Doesn't Do Everything For Its Audience

Aids Bills 
Stir Debate 
On Privacy 
State Rep. Tom Stish Says His 
Proposed Legislation Would Protect 
Health-care Workers, But Advocates 
For Those With Aids Say Confidentiality

Monday, February 07, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





`Congrats' on surgery score, General Hospital &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Executives at local hospitals get pretty testy about their institution's
quality. ``We're as good as any hospital in the state,'' they bristle when
told of some patients' conviction that big-city hospitals are betterWell, at
least one local hospital now has some powerful statistics to back that
assertion up. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The heart surgery team at Wilkes-Barre General turned in a stellar
performance on a recent state evaluation. Dr. George E. Cimochowski, chief of
General's cardiac surgery, and his people deserve congratulations all around. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 To begin with, the hospital was "the only one in the state whose average
charge for coronary bypass surgery dropped," according to a story by reporter
Leanora Minai in Friday's Times Leader. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Furthermore, the hospital is one of only three in the state that had fewer
deaths than expected after the surgery. The low mortality rate earned the
hospital a "plus" in the Consumer Guide to Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery,
which was published by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Naturally, these results aren't gospel. All such studies have limitations
in their design. And both Geisinger Medical Center in Danville and Mercy
Hospital of Scranton, General's leading competitors in that surgery, chalked
up highly respectable scores. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But as anyone at General will testify, these studies are a lot easier to
take when there's a gold star after your name. And at the very least, the
guide should make anyone thinking about going to Philadelphia for heart
surgery think again.

`congrats' On Surgery 
Score, General Hospital 
Executives At Local Hospitals Get Pretty Testy About Their Institution's 
Quality. ``we're As Good As Any Hospital In The State,'' They Bristle When 
Told Of Some Patients' Conviction That Big-city Hospitals Are Better.

`congrats' On Surgery Score, General Hospital Executives At Local Hospitals Get Pretty Testy About Their Institution's Quality. ``we're As Good As Any Hospital In The State,'' They Bristle When Told Of Some Patients' Conviction That Big-city Hospitals Are Better.