Pottsville Hospital Cited in Elopement

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Multiple deficiencies in the handling of patients needing mental health evaluations were uncovered by state surveyors on a recent visit to a Pottsville hospital.
The surveyors declared a state of "immediate jeopardy" at the 129 bed Lehigh Vallley Hospital-Schuylkill in late August due to the failure to promptly institute one-on-one observation for patients deemed at risk to themselves or others.
The facility "failed to ensure the safety of patients," the report states.
The "immediate jeopardy" was lifted when hospital officials came up with an acceptable plan of correction.
In one case cited in the report a patient who had been taken to the hospital by police for a mental health evaluation was left alone in a waiting area and walked away only to be returned to the hospital by police a second time.
The hospital "failed to put patients immediately on one-to-one observation...resulting in elopements on patients who were petitioned to be at risk to themselves or others," the surveyors reported.
Also cited by the state was the failure to perform a suicide risk assessment on one patient being held on involuntary status.
The report cites the hospital's own policy requiring that a staffer be within arm's length of patients being held involuntarily.
One of the patients not placed on immediate observation had a documented history of suicide attempts.
Other items cited by the inspectors was the failure to obtain written orders for the use of restraints and failure to re-assess every 15 minutes patients being held in restraints.
In its plan of correction the hospital promised a re-education program for staffers handling mental health evaluation cases and a series of audits to ensure staff followed the proper procedures.
Another Lehigh Valley Health facility in East Stroudsburg also was hit with an immediate jeopardy declaration recently. That facility was cited for failing to have staff to constantly observe cardiac monitors.

Immediate Jeopardy (IJ) represents a situation in which entity noncompliance has placed the health and safety of recipients in its care at risk for serious injury, serious harm, serious impairment or death. These situations must be accurately identified by surveyors, thoroughly investigated, and resolved by the entity as quickly as possible. In addition, noncompliance cited at IJ is the most serious deficiency type, and carries the most serious sanctions for providers, suppliers, or laboratories (entities). An immediate jeopardy situation is one that is clearly identifiable due to the severity of its harm or likelihood for serious harm and the immediate need for it to be corrected to avoid further or future seriou
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