Staff at Durham Regional Hospital are working to correct the nursing care deficiencies that state officials cited last week in a critical report, administrators at the Duke-operated facility said Tuesday.
The report--sent to Durham Regional officials last week by the state Division of Facilities Services--resulted from a surprise inspection in February and stated that many patients' allegations of neglect are substantiated.
According to the report, some patients developed bed sores that went untreated and others who required assistance with hygiene did not receive help, including one whose hair was washed once in a 49-day stay. It was also reported that hospital staff gave one patient medication to which she was allergic.
The allegations came from individual patients who were treated at Durham Regional in 2001. In all, Facilities Services, which investigates all complaints against North Carolina hospitals, looked at 22 specific claims and found evidence to support 14 of them.
Durham Regional must correct the problems by May 6 or face losing their certification under the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs. Hospital officials, who filed an initial report with Facilities Services Monday, said they are taking the allegations seriously and have corrected most of the lapses. The agency will conduct a follow-up investigation some time before May 6.
Richard Liekweg, chief executive officer of Durham Regional, said the state's findings are not representative of patient care at the hospital.
"Last year, Durham Regional Hospital had more than 16,000 inpatient admissions, 100,000 outpatient visits and 50,000 emergency room visits," Liekweg said in a statement. "That's not in any way to belittle these allegations, which we take very seriously, but it's important for the public to know the report is not representative of the care we provide."
In resolving some of the problems found in the investigation, Durham Regional spokesperson Katie Galbraith said hospital officials have been focusing on retraining some workers and clarifying expectations. For example, to prevent more patients from developing bed sores, the nursing assistant orientation program now includes more information on basic care, Galbraith said.
One of the violations listed in the state report was that the hospital was "not adequately staffed to meet the needs of patients,"
Jim Jones, a Facilities Services spokesperson, said hospitals nationwide are dealing with a nurse shortage.
Galbraith said Durham Regional's service has not been significantly affected by the nursing shortage. "Every decision we make as a hospital really is made with the best interests of the patient in mind, but all hospitals are facing financial challenges," she said.
Durham Regional has had budget difficulties since it signed a contract with Duke University Health System in 1998.
Duke agreed to manage the hospital's operations to increase efficiency and ensure the hospital's viability. However, the hospital has had to trim hundreds of jobs and has projected a $3.7 million loss for the fiscal year that ends June 30. That deficit is down from a $16.9 million loss in the 2000 fiscal year and $7.5 million in 2001.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.