State and federal government survey Mission Hospital after Immediate Jeopardy designation
ASHEVILLE – Following the blistering 384-page report detailing deficiencies at Mission Hospital and four patient deaths, state and federal regulators are surveying the hospital.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have been surveying the hospital since Feb. 20, state Sen. Julie Mayfield told the Citizen Times in a Feb. 21 message. An NCDHHS spokesperson confirmed state and federal regulators' presence at the hospital in a Feb. 21 email. The Asheville Watchdog first reported the state survey.
CMS informed Mission Hospital Chief Executive Officer Chad Patrick in a Feb. 15 letter that the federal agency accepted the hospital’s plan to correct deficiencies.
"We are pleased that CMS accepted our Plan of Correction and we will continue to collaborate with the surveyors through this process," Mission Health spokesperson Nancy Lindell told the Citizen Times in a Feb. 21 statement.
That letter conveyed that the North Carolina survey agency would conduct an unannounced revisit survey by Feb. 24 to determine if the Immediate Jeopardy conditions at the hospital have been removed.
“If you successfully remove immediate jeopardy, you must continue with the accepted (Plan of Correction) focused on monitoring, additional training, auditing and any other actions necessary to fully correct the noncompliance and ensure the noncompliance would not recur,” the letter read.
If Mission fails to remove the Immediate Jeopardy situation, the federal government will send a notice that it will terminate the hospital’s contract for Medicare and Medicaid payments at least 15 days prior to officially ending the agreement, a CMS spokesperson previously told the Citizen Times in an email.
If the hospital removes the Immediate Jeopardy condition, Mission will have “90 days to complete the specific corrective actions and achieve compliance with the regulations.”
More: Answer Man: Can patients request ambulances take them to hospitals other than Mission?
More: Mission Hospital CMO Spensieri says he'll 'step away' after CMS cites Immediate Jeopardy
Mitchell Black covers Buncombe County and health care for the Citizen Times. Email him at mblack@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchABlack. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: State and federal government inspect Mission Hospital
