Cherry Hospital loses federal certification
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on September 11, 2008 1:34 PM
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced today that Cherry Hospital has had its certification as a Medicare and Medicaid provider revoked by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
News-Argus/File Photo
Cherry Hospital
The decertification was effective Sept. 1.
The state psychiatric facility was placed in immediate jeopardy status after an Aug. 13 survey team determined the hospital was not in compliance with CMS standards after investigating two April incidents, one of which ultimately ended in the death of a patient who had been left unattended for more than 20 hours.
The decision to revoke the hospital's certification was then made after a later survey team -- on site between Aug. 26 and Aug. 31 -- determined Cherry to still be out of compliance with patient health and safety standards.
The loss of certification will mean the loss of approximately $800,000 per month, according to state officials.
However, they said in a press release, "there will be no disruption of services to the community."
The state also announced that Compass Group of Cincinnati, Ohio, has been hired as an independent hospital management consultant to evaluate the operational and management structure of Cherry Hospital, and to make recommendations to correct the facility's deficiencies.
The company will be on-site from Sept. 12 to Oct. 15 at a cost of approximately $90,000.
Cherry Hospital is a 274-bed inpatient psychiatric hospital serving 36 eastern North Carolina counties.