The Commonwealth Health Center will soon have a brand new computerized tomography scanning unit, or CT scan, that will replace its antiquated unit, according to Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. CEO Juan N. Babauta yesterday.
He said the corporation is now working with Oka Services Inc. for the procurement of the new machine.
He approved some $300,000 for the new unit.
Babauta said the amount will be paid incrementally in three installments and will be sourced from the hospital's revenue and collection, which has lately started to improve.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently slapped CHC with three immediate jeopardy statuses after the federal team uncovered numerous deficiencies in the hospital.
The first immediate jeopardy status relates to non-functioning defibrillators at the hospital. This was resolved this week with the arrival of four brand new defibrillators that will be stationed in the operating room, emergency room, intensive care unit, and the surgery department.
The second immediate jeopardy status involved deficiencies found in critical supplies in the laboratory unit, lack of specimen testing, tracking, and accountability.
Babauta disclosed that these critical supplies have started to come in and related policies are being revisited to address this specific concern of Medicare.
The third immediate jeopardy status relates to a malfunctioning CT scan and a broken portable x-ray unit.
Last week, Babauta said the broken CT scan has been repaired and CHC brought back a portable x-ray unit it loaned to the Tinian Health Center.
Babauta admitted, though, that Medicare had pointed out that the citation will not be addressed by just merely repairing broken equipment.
A CT scan is a diagnostic tool that uses x-rays and a computer to create detailed images of the insides of one's body.
Pursuant to Medicare policy, a provider is given 23 days to correct any deficiencies or it will lose its Medicare funding that amounts to as much as $10 million a year.
Babauta said that because of the process involved in getting a new CT scan, it will be hard for the corporation to get everything completed within 23 days.
He said the corporation's special committee has been constantly updating Medicare on the status of every action plan they are taking and is hopeful that Medicare will give them some consideration.
Babauta said that most of the deficiencies found by the visiting team were the result of the corporation's funding shortage. It was only given $5 million in fiscal year 2012 to cover hundreds of personnel, supplies, and day-to-day operations.
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