NIH hospital needs sweeping reform to better protect patient safety, panel says

Practices at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, the hospital where cutting-edge medical research is conducted, require sweeping reform to better protect patient safety, a task force appointed by the agency reported Thursday.The panel of experts, appointed by NIH Director Francis S. Collins, found that the hospital’s research focus sometimes took priority over the safety of the critically ill patients treated there. It also said that the center has many “outdated or inadequate facilities.”