Dr. Kudos of the Month

Platte Valley Hospital often receives kind notes from patients and guests who are truly appreciative of the care they receive and compassion they feel while they’re here. It’s our privilege to post those notes here, in gratitude for all you do.

This month, our featured kudos is different. The below note is from a member of the medical team who reached out after witnessing a physician’s remarkable diligence, which led to an unusual and lifesaving diagnosis.

Note from a member of the medical team

“Dr. David Baldwin is a lifesaver. He admitted a patient to ICU with afib, weakness, hematemesis, profound encephalopathy and metabolic acidosis who rapidly decompensated and required intubation. Dr. Baldwin noticed that the lab results weren't adding up and treatment wasn't affecting the labs or the patient's condition the way he expected. So he delved deeper into the cause of her presentation and was able to figure out it was caused by methanol poisoning. He contacted poison control, started her on appropriate medications, and started her on dialysis. The next morning, Dr. Michael Shomaker, nephrologist, commented that methanol poisoning is not easy to detect, especially so early in the presentation. He said Dr. Baldwin’s quick thinking and appropriate treatment not only saved the patient’s life, but he saved the patient’s eyesight, as loss of vision is a common complication from methanol toxicity. We appreciate Dr. Baldwin's diligence and are very lucky to have him!”

Thank you to all members of the medical staff who are relentless in the pursuit of answers for your patients.