Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1475102
19 PATIENT SAFETY & OUTCOMES Florida VA hospital failed to provide emergency care to patient, feds find By Mackenzie Bean M alcom Randall VA Medical Center in Gainesville, Fla., failed to provide emergency care to an unresponsive heart failure patient because hospital staff could not verify his status as a veteran, according to a May 31 report from the Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Inspector General. Despite paramedics calling ahead to notify the VA hospital of the patient's critical condition and limited identifying information, emergency department nurses and an administrative officer at the VA hospital "wasted critical time concentrating efforts on patient identification (i.e., determining whether or not the patient was a veteran, which he was) rather than on patient care," the Inspector General said. e patient was transported to the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, where he died 10 hours later. An administrative investigation board reviewed the incident, which occured in the summer of 2020, and determined that it violated the VA's Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act policy. "e emergency department nurses disregarded EMS personnel's patient status report, failed to recognize the patient's emergency medical condition and inaccurately assessed the patient's condition," the report said. e VA hospital also has a history of EMTALA-related violations and was required to train emergency department staff on the law in 2019, according to the report. Despite this additional training, the Inspector General's most recent investigation found "there continues to be a delay in the provision of emergency care to patients in the emergency department due to inefficient registration processes and practices." e Inspector General issued four recommendations to the hospital to remedy this issue. "We embrace high reliability and are committed to zero harm for our patients," Melanie omas, acting public affairs officer for the VA hospital, told e Gainesville Sun. "As outlined in the response, action plans have been completed or are currently under implementation. We remain dedicated to honoring our nation's veterans by ensuring a safe environment and delivering exceptional healthcare through continuously improving our standards." n Joint Commission faces more pressure to require safe staffing for accreditation By Kelly Gooch H ospital workers and allies in Illinois and Indiana are urging The Joint Commission to add staffing standards to its accreditation and licensing process for healthcare facilities. The campaign is being led by Service Employees Interna- tional Union Healthcare Illinois, which represents 90,000 hospital, nursing home, home care and child care workers in the Midwest. The workers driving the campaign include nurses, environmental services workers, technicians and nursing assistants. A petition delivered to The Joint Commission June 7 urged the organization to examine hospitals on their overall staff- ing as part of their accreditation and licensing process. "The Joint Commission should be accessing hospitals on their overall staffing as part of their accreditation, and hospitals need to be reporting on their overall staffing throughout their buildings," the petition stated. The workers' campaign also included a June 7 rally at The Joint Commission's headquarters in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. In March, nurses working with an advocacy group called Impact in Healthcare also urged The Joint Commission to require safe staffing levels for accreditation. Jonathan Perlin, MD, PhD, president and CEO of The Joint Commission, said the COVID-19 pandemic has highlight- ed the need for more trained healthcare workers to meet patient demand and to reduce turnover. "Staffing is a critical and complex issue that The Joint Commission takes very seriously," he said in a statement shared with Becker's. "There is not a one-size-fits-all or immediate solution, especially in the context of ensuring access to patients in need with an ongoing workforce shortage. We look forward to working with other organi- zations and authorities on this challenging issue to create sustainable improvements for both healthcare workers and the patients we serve." n Image Credit: North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System