Patients Admitted Minus Covid Screening

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Three patients were admitted to a Kingston, PA. behavioral hospital without a complete Covid-19 screening, according to a report recently made public by the state Health Department.
The report on the 149-bed First Hospital of the Wyoming Valley also disclosed that a patient who was not properly monitored after a fall was later found unresponsive and without a pulse.
That unnamed patient was rushed to a hospital, but the report does not disclose whether the patient survived.
"The facility failed to monitor a patient's vital signs and neurological needs were met following a fall," the report states, adding that the incident occurred in July.
The three patients not fully screened for Covid-19 were admitted in April, June and July. Hospital records indicated the patients were not asked a series of health questions, such as , "Do you have a fever or chills?.
Those items were just two of the deficiencies detailed in the report.
"First Hospital has implemented a plan of correction accepted by the Pennsylvania Department of Health following the recent inspection," a hospital spokeswoman said in response to a series of questions.
Other deficiencies cited in the state report include failing to ensure patients personal care items were secured and allowing an employee to continue prescribing drugs some seven years after the expiration of her U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration registration had expired.
The hospital responded by stating "with absolute certainty" that the records showed the employee, a physician assistant, did not prescribe any controlled substances during the relevant time period.
Still other items cited included 189 delinquent medical records some of which included patient records never completed by physicians.
The surveyors reported that there was no evidence any discipline was imposed on those who failed to complete those records.
In the plan of correction hospital officials said they had instituted new policies for the monitoring of fall victims and subsequently re-educated staff on those changes.
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