Click Here

DHHS secretary vows to fix Cherry Hospital

Cherry Hospital

State Health and Human Services Secretary Dempsey Benton said Friday he will do whatever it takes to bring a Goldsboro mental health facility to the highest standards of care to make it "a safe and secure environment."

"The department is dedicated to providing quality care to consumers in the state facilities, and substandard care will not be tolerated," Benton said in a news release.

Cherry Hospital, one of the state's four mental hospitals, Thursday lost its Medicare and Medicaid certification, which means the federal insurance program won't reimburse the hospital for treating patients.

Instead, approximately $800,000 from the department's budget will cover the patients' care. It's too early to say when the hospital will reapply for certification, officials have said.

In the meantime, Compass Group Inc., an out-of-state independent hospital management team, will review Cherry Hospital and develop a plan for any changes necessary to bring the facility "not just back into compliance, but to the highest standards of care," Benton said.

The group will then work on-site at Cherry Hospital and implement the plan.

Benton said he wants more money to cover the budget shortfall and to raise pay in certain positions. He also wants to add crisis teams in Cherry Hospital's coverage areas and make extra community hospital beds available.

Thursday's official announcement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to decertify Cherry Hospital is the latest in setbacks for the hospital as well as the state's mental health system.

It has struggled to stabilize after reform legislation earlier this decade left pockets of the state without community treatment options and ultimately led to wasteful spending.

At Cherry Hospital, state officials disclosed in mid-August that a patient had died in April after choking on medication and being left sitting in a chair for nearly 24 hours over the course of four work shifts.

Benton closed the hospital ward where the patient died and removed staff members involved from caring for patients directly.

Two staff members also were accused of beating a different patient in August, at the same time Cherry leaders started patient care retraining to show investigators it was trying to fix problems.

Broughton hospital in Morganton was decertified for 10 months until July while the state fixed problems related to patient safety, including a patient's death last year.



4 Comments


Golo

Welcome to GOLO, where WRAL.com visitors can comment on stories and create profile pages, blogs and photo galleries.

You must be a registered WRAL.com user to use these tools. Click here to register or log in.

View Comments View Comments

Photo Spotlight
0
1
2
3
4
5
[+] more photos | submit your photos
Report It
Send us your news photos, videos, tips and story ideas.
Submit Videos Submit Photos Submit Reports
  1. 2009christmasparade
    Bands, marchers in holiday parade

    Choose your group to watch their performance in the 2009 WRAL-TV Raleigh Christmas Parade.

  2. 2009christmasparade26
    Web only: Complete 2009 WRAL-TV Raleigh Christmas Parade

    Watch the parade in its entirety from the comfort of your computer any time.

  3. taxes
    Search for missing IRS refunds

    The Internal Revenue Service released the names this week of more than 100,000 taxpayers who have not received their 2009 income tax refund.

  4. County Unemployment Rates
    North Carolina unemployment rates

    View an interactive map with county unemployment numbers.

  5. Drought Map
    A year of N.C. Drought Maps

    View a time lapse animation of drought conditions during the last year.

Click Here