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Show Today's headlines The More Things Change... THE :or?rl Tnn lJ; yh 1 1 b 1 1 A can give a reader a profound sense of deja vu, says Chronicle Opinion Columnist Michael Chidester. TT Ln.il . A Sea Creature: emerges as a - 1 mm rSiei The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice Since 1890 y" i Big-Leag- -. h;Kfhfl!l nlavpp; , - - arp sppinn7 --- --- University Hospital employs automated systems, such as this one for monitoring 6 IV, to complement human work. MATT GROESBECK lent than previously thought. The U Health Sciences Chronicle News Writer ter is addressing the reality of The proverb "to err is human" loosely acknowledges that people make mistakes. But where does one draw the line? Who or what is to blame when a error halts the healing process, or worse yet, leads to death the provider or the system? Whether it's performing surgery on the wrong arm or simply giving someone the wrong medication, state and university health officials are aggressively reanalyzing their approach to prevent those errors from happening. health-care-relat- ed "Changes have to occur immediately," said Jim Jorgen-soUniversity Hospital director of pharmacy services. "We're not waiting for the state to tell us what to do. But we want to make sure that everything is coordinated and that we put our efforts in processes and program improvements that will produce the maximum return in our investments in terms of patient safety." Earlier this month, the Department of Health released data suggesting Utah health-car- e errors are more preva n, Cen- medical drug-relate- le (16,516). "I've been concerned about medical errors for a long time," said Neil Kochenour, medical director of U Health Sciences. "The Institutes of Medicine report really posal. Landward has worked with the LGSU to obtain the Quarterly West space because it is located in a area and is directly across from the CESA. "I am delighted that the union has made the decision to provide ongoing space to the LSGU in the student union, which is where we believe they should be located," said Barbara Snyder, vice president for student affairs. "This space will afford them access to "It is absolutely important to have a permanent space for the LGSU to meet," Landward said. "It not only provides a safe place for gay and lesbian students, but it also sends a symbolic message that we celebrate diversity on campus." LGSU will use the resource ! center to spread awareness about the issues concerning homosexual students and observjng celebrations such as Coming Out Week and Gay Pride Day. "We want the U campus to be aware of students and the issues they face," Milne ; high-traff- ic administrative support from the Center for Ethnic Student Affairs." Snyder said administrators will work on a plan to combine the LGSU Resource Center, CESA, the Women's Resource Center sexual-minori- ty said . He hopes the center will grow in future years. "We need student support to keep funding our office so we can to our continue improve resources," Milne said. LGSU will not move into the union until November or December, when .Quarterly West can relocate to the Kennecott Building. ; smcfar!andchronicle,utah.edu see ERRORS, page 4 Riedicme Will of School Audit Legislature "I've had many calls applauding me for taking this action against the medical school," Saunders said. He says that "reverse discrimination" makes the admissions process "flawed." Saunders says, based on calls from Utahns and some Utah doctors supporting his actions, that ethnic minorities receive preferential treatment over the majority, whose academic credits are "not being given proper weight." Saunders quoted one of the anonymous constituents, who said, "If you think there's no discrimination, you're mistaken." But Saunders says the reports of admissions bias are "just allegations, not accusations." U officials said their response to the allegations has been prompt and compliant. "We don't think there's any problem in our processes," said Dr. Victo accepted, Milne said. rd mistakes. "The U is committed to inculcating safety into everything we do," Jorgenson said. The report tracked hospital admissions and discharges and concluded that Utah retains "unacceptably high levels of adverse events due to medical errors." Approximately d errors. half of them are The statewide study comes after a 1999 national Institutes of Medicine report projecting that more than 44,000 patients die in U.S. hospitals each year due to mistakes. The national study asserted that more people die in a given year as a result of medical errors than from motor-vehicaccidents (43,458), breast cancer (42,297) or AIDS al years." mation and support groups. The resource center will also include a hired staff and a resource library. Students can use the new center as a comfortable place to find support on gay and lesbian issues, or just to hang out and feel search The LGSU's ended when the Union Board unanimously voted to provide the space currently occupied by Quarterly West The University of Utah administration has been supportive from the start, but has been unable to find space. "The LGSU center took about as much time as the Women's Resource Center and the Center for Ethnic Student Affairs. It's been a matter of space," said Stay-naLandward, dean of students, who was the first administrator to publicly support the LGSU pro- Medical Errors Kill 44,000 Per Year "We will do a survey first to give us the scope of the work," said Tim Osterstock, audit manager at the Auditor General's Office. "We're waiting on the initial survey to give us a solid direction on where to take the investigation." Rep. Carl Saunders, requested the audit earlier this spring after receiving reports that bias and discrimination exist at the medical school. He says he has received these complaints "for sever NO The main purpose of the space year-lon- g . August. 111 is to provide students with information about the issues concerning sexual minorities on campus. Students will be able to find infor- resources and ducational outreach for the campus" said Charles Milne, former LGSU committee's list of audit priorities and may begin as early as this VOL and the Center for Disability Services into a single Diversity Center. "I believe this emphasis on diversity is a most positive direction for the University of Utah," Snyder said. "We want to provide a place for question the medical school's acceptance policies. The investigation is fourth on the 20, 2001 kes Space For Gays, Lesbians After a year of lobbying, the Lesbian and Gay Student Union announced last week it has a permanent home in the union for the first time. auditing subcommittee ordered an investigation into the School of Medicine's admission practices Thursday, calling into thpir dreams come true in the majors. SHEENA MCFARLAND Chronicle News Writer A state legislative Former Ute pTv U J' MATT GROESBECK Chronicle News Writer animation. Chew: ue WEDNESDAY, JUNE MITF- success big-scre- with powerful - "Atlantis" ria Judd, associate dean of medical school admissions. "The audit will look at the process, and not individual records...and that will be educational to the public." A 1973 federal law, the Family Education Rights Privacy Act, prohibits the School of Medicine from releasing applicant files to audit officials, which is why only an investigation into the process of determining admission is being conducted. Judd denies bias or discrimination in any of the policies or processes an applicant may go through. She said that since there are more than 1,200 medical-schoapplicants for only 102 spots, a significant number of applicants are turned down. According to Judd, there are 10 criteria the School of Medicine uses to judge the merit of students: GPA, MCAT score, leadership ability, ol patient exposure, community service, research experience, letters of recommendation, personal essay, Lemmon Replaces Wilson as Interim Chief of U Police experience and interview. personal Judd says that discrimination against race, gender, country or state of origin, religion or residency status physician-interactio- n .r CHRIS CAVEN Chronicle News Writer see AUDIT, page 4 . . Lt. Ben Lemmon has been appointed interim director of public safety and chief of the University of Utah Police Department, effective June 18. Lemmon, who has been acting chief for approximately two months, is replacing Chief Robert Wilson, who is retiring after five years of service with the UUPD and taking a job at the University of Houston. "Wilson was recruited by the University of Houston, and decided, after undergoing heart surgery, to take a job with them rather than risk the stress of managing the UUPD during the decidedly stressful Olympic period next year," said Randy Turpin, associate see POLICE, page 4 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE IS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT WWW.Utahchronicle.com |