Methodist Dallas Hospital Resolves Deficiencies

After three state surveys to follow up on deficiencies discovered over the summer,  Methodist Dallas Medical Center has received notification from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that the facility is now in full compliance with all Medicare conditions of participation.

The notice from the Dallas office of CMS, dated December 2, is based on a November 8 inspection by the Texas Department of State Health Services. It confirms that Methodist Dallas has resolved all of the problems first uncovered at the medical center during a surprise August inspection.

That visit uncovered deficiencies in 10 broad categories, including medical screening, emergency services, and medical records, that placed patients in immediate jeopardy of endangerment.

At that time Methodist Dallas officials attributed the deficiencies to "increased volume and space limitations in our emergency department" and announced a $108 million expansion to its emergency, critical care, and surgery departments.

A follow-up survey conducted in October confirmed that although the initial problems had been resolved, two new problems had been discovered in the areas of nursing services and infection control.

Among the findings: unattended patients, multiple patients cared for by one nurse, violations of handwashing protocols and hospital personnel wearing personal fanny packs in the surgical services area.