Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 3, 1992 TAG: 9201030127
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
HOSPITAL'S RATING REVOKED
Eastern State Hospital, which was plagued during 1991 by allegations ranging from patient abuse to drug use and sales by its staff, has lost its national accreditation.Neither the state Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, which runs the 1,000-bed hospital in Williamsburg, nor the suburban Chicago accrediting agency would release details Thursday of the deficiencies that caused the loss.
James Bumpas, interim director at Eastern State, said only that a nursing shortage was among citations against the hospital by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. But he stressed that patients are safe.
"We want to reassure patients, their families and the general community that no one is in danger," Bumpas said. "And while we are concerned about the findings of the report, we are confident the deficiencies cited either are in the process of being corrected or will be corrected soon."
Bumpas said the hospital has been given $2.5 million in state funds to add 75 employees. Forty of those will be in nursing positions working directly with patients, he said.
But a spokesman for the accrediting agency said he did not know if the additional staff would fix the problems at Eastern State. He said the hospital could lose its federal Medicare funding and other third-party insurance reimbursements with the loss of its national accreditation.
State Mental Health Commissioner King Davis said the department will appeal the joint commission decision. The department learned of the action in a letter received Dec. 30.
The private, non-profit commission surveys about 80 percent of the nation's hospitals for accreditation. Less than 2 percent of those have been denied accreditation.
Stephen Davidow, spokesman for the joint commission, said the accrediting agency did surveys in January, April and May 1991. He noted that the normal accreditation period is for three years. Eastern State was last accredited in August 1989, and was not due for a full inspection until mid-1992.
Davidow said the team went in following news stories on allegations of patient abuse and mistreatment, and of sales and use of drugs by hospital staff. The hospital's former director, David Pribble, resigned in the spring during the height of the allegations.
The decision to revoke accreditation was reached after another survey - this one unannounced - in mid-October. A three-person - a physician, nurse and hospital administrator - conducted the two-day inspection.
Bumpas, an associate commissioner who was in charge at Eastern State during the October visit, said he expected no accreditation problems afterward. He said he was told during an exit conference that improvement had been noticed in some areas, while in others, there had been none. "But," Bumpas said, "they said they saw nothing that had worsened."
David Sayen, spokesman for the Health Care Financing Administration, which administers the federal Medicare program for the elderly, said the agency has begun talks with the state Health Department about possibly inspecting Eastern State for continued Medicare certification.
After a succession of interim administrators, John Favret, a Washington psychiatrist, is scheduled to take over as Eastern State's permanent director Jan. 16.