Cheyenne (Wyo.) Regional Medical Center could lose its Medicare and Medicaid contracts after a survey by the Wyoming Department of Health found deficiencies, according to the Casper Star Tribune.
According to the survey report, a blind patient was brought to the hospital by law enforcement May 2. After speaking with three of the patient's family members, who all declined to take the patient in, the hospital discharged the patient to a shelter May 19.
Although the hospital deemed the patient "independent" prior to admission to the shelter, the survey report said that was not the case.
"At the shelter, the patient required assistance, monitoring and care that staff at the shelter were not trained to provide," the report states, according to the Casper Star Tribune. "The patient was reliant on the other residents at the shelter to assist him/her to the bathroom and when no one was available the patient was incontinent."
The shelter's case manager contacted Cheyenne Regional Medical Center May 22 and 23 to report that the shelter was not able to properly care for the patient, but the hospital didn't provide any assistance, according to the survey report.
Cheyenne Regional Medical Center has submitted a correction plan to CMS. However, if the hospital doesn't correct the discharge-related issues outlined in the survey report the facility could lose its Medicare and Medicaid funding.
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