Twelve employees at Mercy Hospital Springfield (Mo.) were fired in September for a string of abuses, including breaking a patient's thumb, according to new details published in the Springfield News-Leader.
Compliance investigators detailed the instances of abuse against four patients in a report after reviewing security footage and conducting interviews. Three of the incidents involved abusive security guards, including one who broke a patient's thumb after bending it backward and another who pushed a patient to the ground as he was leaving the emergency room after he elected to go to a different hospital.
In early September CMS said Mercy was in immediate jeopardy of losing Medicare funding due to these violations. Although the immediate jeopardy status was rescinded Sept. 29, CMS will evaluate the hospital again Nov. 5 to see if it is compliant with all regulations. If not, Mercy could stand to lose Medicare eligibility.