By BJ Austin, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-982791.mp3
Dallas, TX – Parkland Hospital is posting a critical report on conditions at the Dallas County hospital online along with the hospital's plan to correct the infractions. KERA's BJ Austin says the Parkland Board approved the action-plan Friday afternoon.
Parkland Board Chair Dr. Lauren McDonald says citizens and patients should have full confidence in Parkland Hospital.
McDonald: We understand our obligation to the people of Dallas County. We want to make sure that the public is comfortable; they understand that they're going to be save when they come here.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services notified Parkland August 9th that the hospital had serious violations in nine areas. Two issues, infection control and emergency room care, were assigned the most severe category: immediate jeopardy.
Dr. Jay Shannon, Parkland Chief Medical Officer explains.
Shannon: What they say is not that they saw something that caused harm to a patient but they saw care processes that had the potential to cause harm to a patient. And when CMS or the state sees that, they appropriately put the organization on a very short time frame and a very shot notice to correct that deficiency because they're concerned that the next patient that comes in may not be assured of safe care.
Dr. Ron Anderson, Parkland CEO, says they're already correcting the issues and he's confident the CMS will accept Parkland's plan of action, education and monitoring.
Anderson: There's been such a good faith effort here, and really I think this is an excellent plan. CMS is not in the business of closing hospitals in some sort of mischievous way. They're looking for us to comply with the standards. I believe we are doing that. There are a lot of what ifs. But, our approach to this was saying we have to fix it. And let's fix it. We've got it done. And so I expect they'll be quite reasonable.
If Parkland fails a second inspection sometime in the next two weeks, the Dallas County public hospital could lose its Medicare and Medicaid funding. Dr. Anderson says that's more than 50% of the hospital's budget, and losing those funds would "sink" Parkland.