HospitalInspections.org

Based on review of complainant log, hospital policy, staff, and patient interview, the facility failed to respond to one of five patients reviewed. (Patient #4)

The findings include:

On 5/6/14 at 10:30 a.m. the facility complaint log was reviewed. Complaint responses for five patients on the complaint log. Patient #4 sent a formal letter to complain of quality of care. The letter from Patient #4 was dated September 2, 2013, and the response to this written complaint was not sent until December 5, 2013 from the Nursing Unit Manager and December 10, 2013 from the Chief Medical Officer. The letter from the from the Chief Medical Officer documented, " We have a process that calls for us to respond to you within 30 days or sooner. We did not meet our own standard."

The facility policy titled Patient Complaint/Grievance process in the Hospital revised last August 2013, documented that all grievance must be responded to in writing. It is the expectation that most grievances can be resolved and the resolution communicated in writing within 30 days.

When on the nursing unit 5/7/2014 between 9:40 and 10:20 a.m. four patients were interviewed, and all knew the grievance process, who to contact, and hospital expectations from the Admission Packet.

On 5/7/14 at 2:30 p.m. the Chief Nursing Officer stated that the letter was sent to the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO). During that time the CEO had found another position and left her office. The letter was discovered later, and they responded as soon as they could investigate and get a formal letter to the complainant (Patient #4). Since that time, they have revised the methods for directing complaints to the Patient Representative. The Patient Representative then directs the complaint items to the responsible parties to prevent any delays.