Six weeks later, on August 14, the Pacific Campus elevators caught on fire, crippling critical surgeries and other treatments for the day.
Both incidents went completely under the radar of the media in San Francisco, going unreported until now.
Some of Sutter Health’s other facilities are also rampant with problems. In May, a system wide failure of Sutter Health’s information and communications network forced staff to revert back to paper charts and forms, canceling some surgeries for 27 hours.
UPDATE: Upon publication Sutter Health flack Angeline Sheets contacted The Black Star News. We asked specifically if Sutter Heath could confirm or deny the patient’s death, the August fire and could they confirm how many times the elevator system broke down at the Pacific Campus in the last six months. Sheets sent BSN the following statement below that does not address any of our questions. The statement also does not dispute or deny any the facts in the original story.
“Sutter Health is committed to providing quality care for our patients and the community. Part of that commitment is to respect and follow laws that protect the privacy of personal health information. Therefore, we cannot provide any information related to any person who may have been a patient within the Sutter Health Network. Our top priority is providing for the optimal health and safety of our patients, families, and staff, which includes maintaining our facilities. Our elevators undergo regular maintenance. Our facility engineers attend to any incidents quickly to ensure our patients and staff are safe. “