Honesdale Hospital Fails Inspection

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Multiple deficiencies, including overuse of restraints on a child, were uncovered in a recent state Health Department review of a Wayne County 114-bed hospital.
The Sept. 27 inspection report on the Wayne Memorial Hospital concluded that the facility failed to meet the minimum requirements for participation in the federally funded Medicare and Medicaid programs.
In addition to the misuse of restraints the surveyors, during a three day site visit, found that hospital failed to obtain proper informed consent in nine of 52 patient records reviewed.
On the restraint issue, state surveyors cited the case of a 13-year-old child who was suicidal and aggressive. Though hospital policy limited juvenile restraint use to two hours, the unnamed patient was kept in restraints on Sept. 22 for four hours in the emergency department.
The informed consent records reviewed during the inspection showed a variety of omissions. Nine of 52 records lacked witness signatures or the time the consent was obtained.
The inspectors found that crash carts had not undergone daily inspections 17 times over a two month period.
More than a dozen physicians at the facility frequently failed to complete patient records within 30 days of discharge.
Other deficiencies included failure to maintain an accurate inventory of controlled substances and failure to properly re-credential seven staffers.
The report cites multiple sanitation issues including dirt, dust and dried food debris in food preparation areas and dust and debris in patient rooms "considered clean and ready for patient admission."
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