More Deficiencies Found at Methodist Health

Methodist Dallas Medical Center continues to face the possibility of termination of its Medicare funding after a second review of the medical center revealed two new problems. At risk is about $208 million in federal funding.

Laura Irvine, the administrator at Methodist Dallas Medical Center, was notified of the medical center's new deficiencies in the areas of nursing services and infection control in an Oct 12th letter from the Dallas office of the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The exact nature of the new problems is unknown. In an e-mail exchange, Bob Moos, a spokesperson for the Dallas office of CMS, said the deficiency specifics will not be made public until Oct 24th when Methodist Dallas files with CMS its required corrective action plan. Once CMS accepts the CAP another survey will be scheduled before Dec. 13th, which is the date when CMS could terminate the medical center's Medicare agreement if the deficiencies aren't corrected.