The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has relaunched its investigation into patient safety at Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, after the union representing nurses complained the for-profit hospital was no longer following the corrective plan stemming from the original investigation.
Additionally, the hospital now is embroiled in a whistleblower lawsuit filed on behalf of Carla LeBlanc, a former Saint Vincent nurse who was fired on May 1, over comments she made on a podcast about dire patient conditions.
DPH and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched a joint, unannounced investigation into Saint Vincent in January following numerous complaints filed by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the labor union representing nurses at Saint Vincent’s, claiming unsafe working and staffing conditions.
The investigation determined the hospital was not in substantial compliance with requirements of quality assessment and performance improvement program; and nursing services, according to the agencies’ report from Feb. 12.
Identified patients throughout the investigation were put in immediate jeopardy: a term defined by CMS as a situation in which noncompliance by providers, suppliers, or laboratories put patients at risk for serious injury, serious harm, serious impairment, or death, according to CMS’s website.
The report found Saint Vincent failed to ensure an adequate amount of licensed registered nurses were providing care to meet patient needs,...
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