Parkland Hospital Submits Plan to Remedy Deficiencies, Protect Funding

Hospital officials separately addressed each deficiency and identified the steps Parkland Hospital will take or has already taken to correct the problems, including:

• Requiring medical screening for every patient entering the ER
• Revising medical staff rules to require medical screening to be performed by a qualified medical professional
• Requiring transfer certification and consent and a memorandum of transfer be completed for any ER patient transferred to another facility
• Assigning escorts to help patients move from one section of the hospital to another
• Implementing a medical management bar coding system to managing supplies and drugs
• Hiring at least 10 additional nurses
• Enforcing infection control procedures to reduce contamination
• Setting up preventive maintenance program to keep equipment in working order

In statement posted on Parkland’s website on Friday night, CEO Ron Anderson provided some additional insight into the steps the hospital is taking to rectify the issues cited by CMS and the state. “Mandatory training and re-education is under way for all employees and medical personnel. Monitoring of employee practices for compliance has begun. For instance, infection prevention education sessions are being held every hour, on the hour for six days to reiterate the proper disposal of personal protective equipment and hand hygiene.”

CMS will review the corrective action plan this week. If approved, another review will be conducted before Sept. 2. In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, David R. Wright, acting deputy regional administrator for CMS explained that after the second review “If the immediate jeopardy continues or there is identification of new immediate jeopardy, the hospital will be terminated on September 2. If inspectors determine there is no longer any immediate jeopardy to patients but that some problems still exist, CMS would issue Parkland another plan of correction deadline.”