HOSPITAL MAY LOSE RATING AGENCY MAY PULL ACCREDITATION FROM EASTERN STATE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, January 2, 1992                   TAG: 9201020105
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
HOSPITAL MAY LOSE RATING AGENCY MAY PULL ACCREDITATION FROM EASTERN STATE
Eastern State Hospital is about to lose its accreditation from a health-care rating commission, according to officials with the state mental health department.
King Davis, commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, said the recommendation is in a report by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health Care Organizations expected to be made public today.
Davis and acting hospital director James Bumpas said they had not read the report. Both men, however, said it was their understanding that the commission had decided to pull accreditation.
Both also said the hospital would appeal the ruling.
"[Accreditation is] a mark of pride for the system," Davis said. "We think it's very important. We'll appeal and hopefully provide the information they need to alter their opinion."
The report, which comes 2 1/2 months after the joint commission conducted a surprise inspection of Eastern State, is expected to mention some of the same problems identified in a probe last year.
A report issued in June on the earlier investigation came after the hospital's director resigned following widespread charges that employees had abused patients and sold drugs on hospital grounds. The internal review found the hospital poorly managed, understaffed and overburdened with patients. The review said it found some claims of patient abuse went uninvestigated and some employees were hired despite having criminal backgrounds.
Bumpas, who became acting director in August, said most of the problems have been corrected and the commission's decision comes as a surprise.
Medicare, Medicaid and insurance companies sometimes link reimbursement payments to a hospital's continued accreditation. Medicare and Medicaid, however, conduct their own inspections as well, and Bumpas said he doesn't expect Eastern State "to be in great jeopardy" of losing money for either program.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB