Readers' reaction to Aurora Las Encinas story

I've had a number of phone calls/emails since the story on death investigations at Aurora Las Encinas hospital broke.

Most responders had both good and bad things to say about their experiences there, while only one person I talked to said she had a terrible experience there.

Everyone I talked to, without fail, said that the staff does rigorous checks every 15 minutes, which is not surprising since that is what a state investigation earlier this year faulted them for. One reader said however, that the checks in her case were useless because staff did not pass along any information about her to her doctor. She said she barely slept for two weeks, started smoking incessantly, and was in constant back pain, but staff never told her doctor about it.

Another reader complained that she was threatened by another patient, and the staff refused to believe her. She did say, however, that she came out of the hospital in much better shape than she went in.

Another one said the hospital is unsanitary and the staff is unhelpful, but praised Dr. Drew Pinsky for helping her got off her pain pills addiction.

Probably all these stories should be taken with a grain of salt since it is not possible to get the hospital's reactions to some of the charges. But of all the people who called in, there was not a single person who had nothing but good things to say about the hospital.