A federal investigation by CMS into St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital revealed oversight failures spanning beyond the hospital's troubled Heart Institute, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
A report released Feb. 22 criticized the hospital's management structure, where nearly all authority rested with a few executives, and rebuked the board of trustees for not exercising proper oversight. It also discussed systemic infection control issues.
Inspectors determined that the hospital's board of trustees had failed to oversee infection control, physician competence and systems intended to improve quality.
The federal report comes three months after a Tampa Bay Times investigation revealed numerous issues in the hospital's heart surgery unit, where the infection rate had significantly increased and the death rate had become the highest in Florida.
The hospital was required to submit a plan for correcting the issues earlier in February. On Feb. 22, All Children's said the federal government accepted its plan and found the most serious problems were addressed. CMS lifted its threat to withhold public funding.
Hospital leaders said this development was "good news," but it was "by no means the end of this important process."
"We take the issues raised by our regulators very seriously, and will continue to collaborate closely with them as we implement our plan," All Children's stated. "We must be vigilant and diligent every day, and most importantly, we cannot forget what happened here and what we have learned."