Oregon State Hospital, a psychiatric facility based in Salem and managed by the Oregon Health Authority, is now in substantial compliance with federal requirements for participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs.
This status update follows four overlapping surveys and more than 12 months of improvements, according to a hospital news release.
A state survey agency has jurisdiction when a hospital is at risk of losing federal funding, such as outstanding compliance issues that could affect Medicare or Medicaid participation.
CMS resurveyed OSH in early October to evaluate the hospital's implementation of plans of correction related to four separate investigations, which are related to patient deaths in addition to a patient who escaped during a 2023 transfer, according to the Statesman Journal.
Afterward, the federal agency issued a 27-page letter Oct. 24, removing the hospital from the state survey agency's jurisdiction.
"OSH remains committed to ensuring a safe and therapeutic environment for our patients, and we've already started work to address continuity in our implementation," Sara Walker, MD, OSH interim superintendent and chief medical officer, said in the release. "OSH staff care deeply about our patients and each other, and they’ve been instrumental in making effective changes across the hospital."
The hospital also said it "will continue to implement and audit its prior plans of correction to ensure progress, as well as to address all standard-level CMS deficiencies, which do not require plans of correction, in its commitment to ongoing improvement."
Additionally, OSH has contracted with The Chartis Group, a healthcare regulatory advisory firm, to help establish and implement strategies for ongoing quality improvement.
The hospital received two immediate jeopardy warnings from CMS this year. OSH was no longer in immediate jeopardy as of July 31, although it remained on a termination track.