The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services will decide the fate of the Commonwealth Health Center's accreditation with the national agency in a week or two after the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. submits more evidence it is rectifying all deficiencies identified during a recent visit, according to CEO Juan N. Babauta yesterday.
Babauta, along with key corporation officials and members, spent more than an hour yesterday talking with the Medicare team via teleconference. The conversation centered on the immediate jeopardy status slapped on the public hospital.
Making up the Medicare team were chief spokesperson Edgardo Japitana, Renie Soria, and Linda Brim. The corporation was represented by Babauta, board chair Joaquin Torres, COO Esther Muna, hospital administrator Karen Buettner, and five other staff.
Babauta said they reviewed the current status of the three immediate jeopardy citations against CHC involving the health and safety of patients. Medicare imposed the immediate jeopardy status on CHC last Sept. 18 and gave it 23 days to correct the infractions.
These immediate jeopardy statuses include the lack of defibrillators in critical units of the hospital; deficiencies in supplies in the laboratory unit, lack of specimen testing, tracking and accountability; and concerns over its malfunctioning CT scanner and a broken portable x-ray unit.
In yesterday's teleconference, Babauta said the corporation's special committee gave Medicare all the answers to questions and concerns raised in the citations and in the series of meetings held during and after their site visit in the week of Sept. 17.
Additionally, the committee presented evidence of actions taken and gave specific information on other concerns raised during the teleconference, according to the CEO.
“CHCC will continue to provide other evidence of completion or steps taken to correct any issues such as certification of equipment being repaired or replaced and development of policies and procedures for tracking, training, and accounting for all equipment in radiology and dietary units (dishwasher, garbage disposal, etc.), the purchase of a fluoroscope, which provides for real time imaging during surgery, chiller, walk-in freezer, the nonfunctioning elevators, and the like,” said Babauta.
He said these documents will be submitted to CMS today, Oct. 12.
Babauta said that Medicare will report all these matters to its regional director for the Western Pacific Region. “We anticipate a decision by CMS on the immediate jeopardy status to be made within a week or two,” he added.
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