Becker's Hospital Review

36 CMO / CARE DELIVERY Newark Beth Israel breaks ties with director of troubled heart transplant program By Mackenzie Bean M ark Zucker, MD, director of Newark (N.J.) Beth Israel Medical Center's heart transplant program le his role Oct. 30, 2020, aer being on administrative leave for one year, reported ProPublica. Newark Beth Israel said Dr. Zucker and hospital leaders "mutually agreed that this is an appro- priate time for a formal leadership transition," according to a news release shared with Becker's. Dr. Zucker will no longer be affiliated with New- ark Beth Israel but will still maintain privileges to treat private patients at other RWJBarna- bas Health hospitals. West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health is Newark Beth Israel's parent system. Hospital leaders placed Dr. Zucker on adminis- trative leave in 2019 aer a ProPublica investi- gation accused the hospital of keeping a patient in a vegetative state alive for a year to improve the transplant program's survival rate. Record- ings obtained by the newsroom show Dr. Zuck- er instructed hospital staff to avoid giving the patient's family the option to withdraw care and switch to palliative treatments until aer Sep- tember 2019, or one year aer the transplant. CMS investigated Newark Beth Israel aer Pro- Publica's exposé and identified several deficien- cies with the heart transplant program, which the hospital has since corrected. e hospital hired outside experts to conduct its own investigation, which found that Dr. Zucker and the transplant team's post-transplant care for the patient was not unethical or compromised by concerns about survival rates, according to the hospital. "Newark Beth Israel Medical Center has always had a reputation for providing high quality care, state-of-the-art care, and I am truly proud to have worked there for more than three decades, served the community with honor, and contrib- uted substantially to that reputation," Dr. Zucker said in a statement that his lawyer sent to Pro- Publica. n Utah hospital stops conspiracy theorists attempting to sneak in, disprove ICU capacity claims By Gabrielle Masson P rovo-based Utah Valley Hospital implemented precautions after sev- eral conspiracy theorists attempted to sneak into the intensive care unit in November, reported NBC affiliate KSL-TV. Hospital administrator Kyle Hansen told the Provo City Council that five people questioning if the ICU was actually as full as the hospital claimed attempted to get inside, some with video cameras. At the time of publication, no one has successfully snuck in. However, the conspiracy theorists prompted the hospital to take extra precau- tions, said Mr. Hansen. "You really can only get in if you're here for an appointment yourself or you have to be listed in a log that we track as a designated visitor for a patient," Mr. Hansen said. "But we've had some people get pretty creative in how they've lied about coming in for an appointment or other things." The hospital has adjusted how it patrols entrances, Mr. Hansen said. The facility also receives "an inordinate amount of phone calls" every day questioning if the ICU is really full. Utah Valley Hospital's parent company, Salt Lake City-based Intermoun- tain Healthcare, released a Nov. 12 statement emphasizing that the situ- ations with conspiracy theorists were uncommon, but take away from the care for those who need it. n 7 patient safety goals for 2021 from Joint Commission By Mackenzie Bean T he Joint Commission shared seven patient safety goals for hospitals to focus on in 2021. Every year, the organization gathers new evidence on emerging pa- tient safety issues to inform its goals for the upcoming year. The information also influences "sentinel event alerts, standards and sur- vey processes, performance measures, education materials and Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare projects," the accredit- ing body said on its website. The Joint Commission's 2021 national patient safety goals for hospitals are: 1. Improve the accuracy of patient identification. 2. Improve staff communication. 3. Improve the safety of medication administration. 4. Reduce patient harm associated with clinical alarm systems. 5. Reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections. 6. Better identify patient safety risks in the hospital. 7. Better prevent surgical mistakes. n

• Cover