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September 11, 2007

Health Dept. cites Fatima Hospital for 'deficiencies'

St. Joseph Health Services in North Providence was ordered today to hire an independent consultant to review "numerous deficiencies" cited by the state Health Department during a recent investigation.

The investigation, which involved the Departments of Health and Mental Health, Retardation, and Hospitals, followed the death of a 59-year-old patient who fell from a window at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital last month.

The problems are related to procedures for moving patients, "maintenance of the facility's physical environment," patient intake procedures, documentation of patient evaluation, and maintaining medical records, a Health Department news release says.

"The facility has also been issued a formal reprimand," the release says, as part of today's compliance order.

“We are very concerned about the system currently in place at Fatima Hospital for ensuring the safety of patientsm” said Dr. David R. Gifford, Health Department director, said in a press release today. “We therefore are requiring the hospital to take steps to find the root causes of the circumstances that led to this death and to submit a plan for addressing the issues. We will also be looking at the health professionals involved with the incident.”

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 4:23 PM | Permalink

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