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Washington state officials order hospital shut

graphic
 

Hospital CEO: 'We are utterly shocked'

April 25, 2000
Web posted at: 10:11 p.m. EDT (0211 GMT)

TACOMA, Washington (CNN) -- Citing unsanitary conditions and poor oversight of medical supplies, the Washington State Department of Health has ordered Puget Sound Hospital in Tacoma to close by Friday.

The order, which came Tuesday, was the first such action in the department's 10-year history.

  MESSAGE BOARD
 

The 160-bed hospital was ordered to admit no more patients and to find other care for the remaining 60 patients due to "serious violations that could directly affect the health of the patients," the department said.

Gary Bennett, the director of facilities and services licensing for the department of health, said an investigator found the hospital's central sterile supply-room floor littered with mouse droppings.

Supply containers were "peppered with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dead bugs," Bennett said.

The investigator confirmed that a patient in a substance-abuse ward had taken several medications from an unlocked storage facility and shared them with other patients in the ward, said Bennett.

"There is no evidence of direct harm to patients, but the potential was there for lethal harm to patients, and we are taking the strongest action to deal with the problem," said Bennett.

The investigator was sent to the hospital after the health department received a tip that the 100-year-old facility had problems, said Bennett.

Puget Sound Hospital, Tacoma's oldest, is part of a for-profit chain owned by the Nashville, Tennessee-based New American Healthcare Corp. The company, which owns eight acute-care hospitals in six states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 19, according to the company.

"We are utterly shocked," said the hospital's chief executive officer, Mark Gregson, in a statement. He said the issues "are very correctable and, in most cases, had already been corrected before the state's order was issued."

Gregson said the hospital was complying with the order to close, but said, "In my opinion none of these incidents rise to the level of shutting down any institution."

He noted that the hospital passed "an intensive, three day state survey just this past December. State inspectors were very complimentary of the level of our care and service."

Gregson added that the hospital was vigorously pursuing "all possible avenues to ensure the continuing operation of this hospital and the care of our patients."

The health department's Bennett described the hospital as a "niche provider," specializing in mental health and substance abuse, areas of expertise not shared by other area hospitals. He predicted that finding beds to accommodate the patients would be a "significant challenge."

Rick Wade, a spokesman for the American Hospital Association, called the order "extremely unusual."

Wade, who has been doing public relations work for hospitals for more than two decades, said, "I've never heard of anything like that."

He described the chain as "a minor player."



RELATED STORIES:
Washington police arrest 600 in IMF, World Bank protests
April 16, 2000
Washington residents struggle to save central-city hospital
November 12, 1999

RELATED SITES:
Washington State Department of Health
New American Healthcare Corporation
Tacoma-Pierce County hospitals
American Hospital Association

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