Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

18 PATIENT SAFETY Michigan psych hospital did not remove staff after alleged abuse or neglect, audit finds By Kelly Gooch A n audit by the state found that Kalamazoo (Mich.) Psychiatric Hospital failed to remove accused employees from patient contact aer investi- gation of abuse or neglect allegations. e Michigan auditor general's report covers Aug. 1, 2017, to July 31, 2019. It found that the state reviewed 30 of 70 complaints handled by the Michigan De- partment of Health and Human Services' Office of Recipient Rights. For three of 19 complaints that involved alleged abuse or neglect, the hospital did not remove accused employees from having patient contact during investigations, according to the audit. e audit said the hospital indicated mis- communication with the Office of Recipient Rights caused two of the instances, and in the remaining instance, the hospital did not suspend the contracted psychiatrist due to a shortage of psychiatrists at the time. Additionally, the audit found KPH respond- ed to 17 Office of Recipient Rights investiga- tion findings up to 180 days late. e state audit also found that 67.5 percent of staff who witnessed incidents did not properly document the incident by the end of their shi, and 27.5 percent of the inci- dent reports did not have documentation of required notifications to patient guardians, the state and city. Two of 40 incident reports reviewed also did not document a patient injury, MLive.com reported. In its response, the hospital noted that due to staff having different schedules, "it be- comes impossible for the [resident care aide] to complete the documentation on their current shi," according to the news site. e hospital in the audit also said it will work with the state to improve communi- cation to ensure timely responses to alleged abuse or neglect, and will develop a tracking mechanism to ensure a timely response to state investigations. n ECRI, Institute for Safe Medication Practices form joint patient safety organization By Mackenzie Bean E CRI Institute launched a joint patient safety or- ganization with the Institute for Safe Medica- tion Practices to improve the safety of medica- tion, medical device and care practices. Both nonprofit groups have held federal designa- tions as safety organizations since HHS launched the Patient Safety Organization program in 2008. Through the program, individual providers and healthcare facilities can voluntarily and anonymous- ly share quality data with designated safety organi- zations, which use the information to help address industrywide care quality concerns. By combining their organizations into one, ECRI and the Institute for Safe Medication will create one of the largest patient safety entities in the world. Together, the nonprofits will analyze data on safety events and medication errors, sharing updated guidance and recommendations with healthcare providers. n Couple alleges Florida hospital lost body of newborn baby By Molly Gamble A Florida couple allege St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa lost the body of their newborn son, who died three days after his birth, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Kathryn and Travis Wilson accuse the Clearwater, Fla.-based BayCare hospital of negligence and reckless infliction of emo- tional distress. They seek more than $30,000 in damages. The Tampa Bay Times reported that the lawsuit states their son, Jacob, was born Feb. 25 and died Feb. 28. St. Joseph's hired a transportation company to take his body to Orlando Regional Medical Center for an autopsy. The body returned to St. Joseph's on March 5 and the family began preparing funeral arrange- ments. On March 11, someone called the family to say the baby's body was missing. As of early August, it still had not been located. In a statement cited by the Tampa Bay Times, BayCare said the hospital has "investigated all avenues and fully cooperated in all search efforts" to find the body. "Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the Wilsons for the loss of their child," the statement said. "We also deeply regret not being able to account for the remains. St. Joseph's leadership and all personnel in our morgues are committed that this unforeseen situation will not happen again." n

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