North Carolina health officials fined Strategic Behavioral Health Center-Charlotte (N.C.) the maximum amount of $20,000 Feb. 14, after an investigation found care lapses at the facility endangered patients, according to The Charlotte Observer.
Here are four things to know.
1. The $20,000 fine is the maximum amount allowed under state law. North Carolina regulators said the fine is imposed when facilities violate laws that protect patient safety, according to a letter sent to the psychiatric hospital obtained by The Charlotte Observer.
2. Earlier this month, North Carolina regulators suspended admissions to the Charlotte facility after finding conditions put patients in "immediate jeopardy." In addition, the regulators recommended that the psychiatric hospital should lose its Medicaid funding until it resolved issues of noncompliance with federal standards.
3. "In the coming days, in unannounced visits, staff with our Division of Health Service Regulation will return to your Charlotte facility," the letter to the psychiatric hospital reads. "If it appears that demonstrative and lasting improvements have not been made or if additional issues are identified, we will take even more stringent enforcement action, up to and including a suspension or revocation of your license."
4. The fine follows accusations of patient mistreatment and multiple incidents of patient escape, including one incident on Jan. 1 where 10 patients escaped after shattering a window.
The hospital "failed to implement policies and elopement precautions thereby creating an unsafe environment for the delivery of safe resident care," a different letter to Strategic reads.