Exeter Hospital on 'Termination Track,' Says State Official

The second document details each regulation or standard, and the specific finding as to how the CMS investigation determined the hospital was not in compliance.

In releasing the documents, and in a statement posted on its website, Exeter acknowledged that the added scrutiny stemming from the hepatitis C cases "were caused by the alleged criminal activity of ex-hospital employee David Kwiatkowski."

Kwiatkowski, who worked at Exeter for about a year, had also worked in 11 other hospitals in about eight other states. That has prompted many of those hospitals to try to locate patients who had contact with Kwiatkowski to determine if they may be infected with his strain of hepatitis C.  Several lawsuits have reportedly been filed.

Exeter emphasized that "the role of CMS surveyors is to vigorously pursue each hospital's compliance with their standards, especially those connected with patient safety. In this new world, following the revelation of Mr. Kwiatkowski's alleged criminal activities that resulted in the infection of 32 of our patients, we embrace CMS's efforts to ensure 100% compliance with all standards."

The statement added that the surveys "are opportunities to further identify areas to improve" patient care.

The Exeter statement notes that part of the federal report deals with a new accusation that the hospital "did not follow the CMS administrative investigative process for identifying the cause of the hepatitis C infections.