Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health System's emergency residency program lost accreditation after its appeal was denied by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education, according to a report from the Akron Beacon Journal.
The system is also still temporarily prohibited from starting any new residency programs or expanding existing ones, according to the report. The 30 residents in Summa's emergency medicine residency at Akron (Ohio) City Hospital must now transfer to different programs by July 1. Summa Health is assisting residents in finding new programs, according to the report. No additional details were available about the appeal or why it was denied.
The residency program was originally suspended because residents were treating and discharging patients in the emergency department without physician supervision, there were delays in stroke and trauma care and the new emergency medicine faculty was not qualified to teach, according to the report.
Issues within Summa Health's ED began at the New Year, when it switched the physician group staffing its ED with little warning. Since then, Summa Health has been in turmoil — its residency program was suspended, its CEO stepped down and it faced a Joint Commission investigation. The Joint Commission cleared Summa Health after a patient safety complaint, noting only one minor deficiency: One of the newly-staffed physicians began treating patients before the credentialing process for that physician was complete.
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