St. Joseph Medical Center is in jeopardy of losing its Medicare funding as a result of a patient shooting this summer. The Houston-based hospital originally had until Oct. 16 to correct safety problems at its facility, but CMS has extended that deadline to Oct. 31, according to a Houston Chronicle report.
CMS wrote in a letter to St. Joseph that the extension would give surveyors more time to complete their report after an Oct. 15 inspection of the hospital.
One of the deficiencies CMS identified, which led to surveyors visiting the facility, was the hospital's failure to ensure that off-duty police officers involved in the shooting of a patient earlier this year had been trained in responding to crises involving confused or aggressive patients.
An off-duty Houston Police Department officer who was working security at St. Joseph shot a 26-year-old "combative" patient on Aug. 27.
In early October, St. Joseph said it had already taken steps to address the issues identified by federal officials and had submitted a plan for correction to CMS.
In a statement released Tuesday, St. Joseph CEO Mark Bernard said the "survey teams have been constructive in their review of our operations," and added that St. Joseph is "on a solid path of continuous improvement that we believe will carry us long into the future," according to the Houston Chronicle.
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