HospitalInspections.org

Based on interview and record review the hospital failed to ensure the emergency room was staffed with a physician 24/7 to provide Medical Screening Examinations per policy. The emergency room was not staffed by a physician from 9/13/13 at 7 p.m. through 9/15/13 at 4 p.m.

Findings include:

Interview 9/16/13 at 2:10 p.m. with the Chief Nursing Officer (ID# 57) revealed: The hospital contracted with a group of emergency room physicians to staff the hospital emergency room 24/7. Due to financial reasons the ER contract group gave a 30 day notice to terminate their contract. The contract should have terminated in October, 2013. The ER physician group abruptly ended their service last Friday (9/13/13) at 7 p.m. without notice. The Chief Nursing Officer stated that the hospital immediately began staffing their ER with physician assistants until they could hire an Independent Physician Contractor. A physician was also on-call at all times and could respond to the hospital ER within 30 minutes. A physician (ID# 53) began staffing the ER 9/15/13 at 4 p.m.

Record review of the emergency room staffing schedules from 9/13/13 to 9/16/13 verified the above information.

Record review of a policy titled " Medical Screening Examination " dated 11/21/12 stated " Procedure: After the patient has been triaged, the physician will perform a medical screening examination to determine if an emergency medical condition exists."

Observations 9/16/13 at 2:45 p.m. revealed the following:
-The emergency room was staffed with a physician (ID# 53) and two registered nurses. The hospital also had a Registered Nurse House Supervisor, Respiratory Therapist, Radiology technician, and a laboratory technician on duty to respond to the emergency room.

Interview 9/16/13 at 4:15 p.m. with the CEO, (ID# 56) revealed: The CEO stated that the hospital has experienced some recent financial problems but are working to resolve all problems. The CEO stated that emergency room Doctor ID# 50 was paid in full for her time with a check. But after she " walked out " on the contract 9/16/13 the CEO canceled her check and this made her angry. The CEO assured the surveyors that the hospital will always staff the emergency room with a physician from this point forward.