Pocono Hospital Understaffed?

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Pennsylvania health officials have concluded that suicidal patients were left at unneeded risk due to staff shortages at the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono.
In a report just made public, state surveyors found that in seven of seven suicidal patients whose cases were reviewed no sitters were available to maintain a one-to-one watch on those at risk.
In one case cited a female patient who was brought to the hospital by police with complaints of self harm and evidence of lacerations could not be monitored due to a lack of staff. Nor was staff available for two hours to monitor a 75-year-old male with "suicidal thoughts."
The inspectors found that the short staffing also caused delays in dispensing medications.
A facility, the report states, "must have adequate numbers of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses."
A third patient, according to the report, could not be transferred to the intensive care unit due to a lack of staff.
It took over three hours for the transfer to be completed, the surveyors reported.
Several other patients had drug treatments delayed due to staff shortages, according to the surveyors
Asked to respond to the report, a spokesman for the Lehigh Valley Health System, which took over the Pocono hospital in 2017 said that since the takeover recruitment efforts have been initiated.
"Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono has steadily increased staffing since the merger," spokesman Brian Best said in a statement.
He said the hospital has continued recruitment and retention efforts throughout the hospital. He also said the hospital developed and implemented a Plan of Correction in response to the state report addressing concerns about suicide staffing coverage, patient transfers and medication distribution.
He said the plan includes routine reviews to ensure continued implementation.
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