St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center has passed a follow-up inspection ordered by federal regulators earlier this year when they cited the hospital for failing to protect patients from abuse. The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services asked the state Health Department in March to do another inspection after a February inspection found a St. Joe's doctor was slapping anesthetized patients on the buttocks and calling them derogatory names before surgery. That inspection found this behavior went on for at least a year until a complaint was filed with hospital administrators.
