DHHS investigating care at Cape Fear Valley

A week after a man died after being discharged from Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, state officials are investigating patient care at the hospital.

Adarrin Washington, 30, died on Nov. 22 on his way home after the hospital discharged him against his will, according to his family. He had non-Hodgkins lymphoma and had spent eight days at Cape Fear Valley before being sent home.

Washington's family raised questions this week about the hospital's handling of his case, and the state Department of Health and Human Services and the Joint Commission, a nonprofit group that accredits and certifies thousands of hospitals nationwide, began investigating.

Because of patient privacy laws, state officials declined to say whether their probe has anything to do with Washington's death

Hospital officials also cited privacy laws in declining to comment Thursday on the investigations.

DHHS spokesman Jim Jones said surveyors visited Cape Fear Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday to assess the quality of care at the hospital. The move is take a broad look and not to "laser in on one incident," he said.

State regulators will forward their findings to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, which funds the hospital's Medicare claims.

In October, CMS threatened to withhold funding from Cape Fear Valley after the April death of a schizophrenic man who was put in a choke hold by security officers. Hospital officials said last month that they had addressed concerns raised by CMS.