Robert Roncska

“Navy Bob” Roncska’s latest book highlights an underreported nightmare: Hundreds of Americans die each day from medical complications that could have been prevented.

The Dunkirk native and former commander of a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine teamed with Jeffrey Kuhlman, who was President Barack Obama’s White House physician, to write “High Reliability Healthcare: Sharing the Secrets of the Nuclear Navy to Save Lives.”

“We’re talking about two 747s going down every day of people of all ages that shouldn’t die,” Ronscka told the OBSERVER.

“Our life expectancy is lower than that of Croatia. We’re spending $12,000 per person per year on health care. They’re spending $800,” he added.

Ronscka believes elements of the Navy’s culture ought to be brought to the healthcare industry. “We’re so reactive in the health care world as opposed to the nuclear Navy. Being preventative saves money in the long run,” he said.

Ronscka stated that medical errors are the third leading cause of death behind cardiovascular issues and cancer (that’s as of 2013). He added that there is a 10% chance of complications on a hospital visit, a statistic cited by the World Health Organization.

“The whole purpose is to make sure you don’t get killed in the hospital,” he said. “This is a crisis. These are lives that are needed for prosperity in the future.”

However, the only way things will change is a “community uproar” to demand fewer mistakes in healthcare, Ronscka said. “The government doesn’t want to mention this. They make too much money from special interest groups.”

According to a synopsis of “High Reliability Healthcare,” the five pillars of the goal outlined in the book title are a higher level of understanding, integrity, formality, questioning attitude, and backup. “The culture prevalent in health care today of follow orders, do what (you are) told, don’t ask questions, never challenge superiors, (and being) not forthcoming (but) situational, is eerily like the U.S. Navy before nuclear reactors were placed on submarines,” the synopsis states.

“We’ve never tapped into the secrets of the nuclear Navy to save patients’ lives,” Ronscka said. His book seeks to unlock the secrets.

“Beyond the Sea,” Ronscka’s previous offering, featured a book tour which stopped in Dunkirk and Fredonia. He isn’t planning such a tour this time, but may speak about “High Reliability Healthcare” at Shorewood Country Club on an undetermined date.

Ronscka asked the OBSERVER to view a trailer for a patient safety documentary film, “To Err is Human,” before reading the synopsis of his book. The trailer stated that 440,000 people per year die in the U.S. from preventable medical ailments.