Harrisburg Hospital Cited for Lack of Coverage

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A Harrisburg hospital has been cited for failure to have physicians available when five patients needed emergency resuscitation earlier this year.
In a report made public last week the Select Specialty Hospital at 111 S. Front St. was cited by the state Health Department for failure to have a physician available between late May and mid-July.
In the most recent case a patient was found unresponsive on July 15. Records reviewed by state Health Department surveyors show the patient was administered a series of medication, including epinephrine, as part of the resuscitation effort. But, the report states, there was no evidence a physician had authenticated the orders, a requirement under state regulations.
Four nearly identical cases were cited in the report.
The facility, the report dated Aug. 3 states, "failed to ensure medical services were available for patients in need of emergency services."
The report notes that the hospital was licensed to provide Level IV emergency services. A facility licensed at that level must have a physician available or on call at all times, according to the report.
Staffers questioned during the Aug. 2 site visit told state inspectors that the hospital's contract for those services changed in October of 2017. Prior to that physicians were called on all codes.
A plan of correction filed by the hospital stated that the situation was corrected in early August to ensure that there would be immediate physician coverage for all codes
Requests for comment from the hospital or its parent company, Select Medical, went unanswered.
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