Our Stories

Xingxun’s Story — First, do no harm. Recent update: CMS recently reviewed the properness of giving Diamox to Dad. After reviewing the exact same complaint and the exact same supporting documents that we submitted to our state medical board, CMS determined that the care provided to Dad did not meet the professionally recognized standard, which […]

On February of 2010, my father at the age of 89, was admitted to the local hospital for an evaluation because he started showing signs of slight confusion. At his admission, he was in a fairly good state of health. He did not have any serious life threatening illness. However, he suddenly died at the […]

My son, Mark David Turnage, Jr., died at Valley Medical Center (VMC), in Renton, Washington due to a horrendous amount of hospital preventable adverse events – ERRORS that could have been prevented and Mark would be alive today. Mark was 30 years old when he passed away and had so much life left to live. […]

My mother Thelma Jean Robinson died on 1-8-2009 in Tacoma General Hospital’s new Cardiac ICU that had been open for less than 6 weeks. She was given the wrong medication by an incompetent, unqualified nurse on a holiday weekend in ICU on Jan 2nd 2009 at 3:08 am. Nurse Wendy skipped every basic safety rule […]

My story is about the failure of professional caregivers to properly treat a patient with Addison’s Disease (a rare disease.) It is a disease so dangerous that doctors (and the National Institute of Health) advise sufferers to always carry identification stating their condition in case of an emergency and when traveling, to carry a needle, […]

    Natalie MacLachlan with her son Trevor and her husband Mac                 I am writing to express my concern and dismay over the fatal illness that affected my sister, Natalie Knauth MacLachlan, following surgery for spinal stenosis at UWMC. Natalie was an otherwise healthy woman when she […]

A lawsuit headed to trial this year in Lewis County Superior Court alleges that a Centralia nursing home failed to monitor a patient’s most basic bodily functions, leading to her death about a month after she was first admitted to the facility. “Her death, it was entirely preventable,” said attorney Stephen Hornbuckle, of the Hornbuckle […]

Brad’s Health Crisis Journey In October of 2007, Brad, my then 20-year-old son who was attending a local college developed a cold with symptoms that lingered for a month. He tried to treat his runny, stuffy nose, coughing, and fever with OTC and some homeopathic remedies. By mid-October, symptoms disappeared, but neck lymph nodes were […]

My Journey into Patient Safety THE LONG & SHORT OF IT Growing up in rural Northwest Iowa, my sense of belonging and rootedness has always been strong.  Based in a family heritage that ran back to the Dutch immigrants who established and founded the area, hard work and honesty were values held in high esteem. […]