Inspectors clear Central Regional Hospital for federal money

Raleigh, N.C. — Central Regional Hospital still has to correct several deficiencies, but the problems do not affect the mental hospital's eligibility for federal funding, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.

Last month, federal inspectors said the hospital's Butner and Raleigh campuses had failed to provide care in a safe environment and to prevent patient abuse and neglect.

That placed the hospital in immediate jeopardy of losing reimbursements for treating patients covered by Medicaid and Medicare.

Dr. Michael Lancaster, the interim director at the Butner facility, told WRAL News Thursday that surveyors are recommending that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid lift its finding of immediate jeopardy against the facility.

DHHS said in a news release Friday that most of the problems found during a November inspection have been fixed and that the deficiencies that remain are at the hospital's Raleigh campus, formerly known as Dorothea Dix Hospital.

CMS, however, must still accept the inspectors' recommendation.

It's unclear when a decision will come from the federal agency, which oversees the Medicare and Medicaid programs and reimburses health care agencies for treating patients covered under them.