CMS Approves S.F. General Hospital’s Reform Plan After Patient Death
CMS has approved San Francisco General Hospital's plan to address circumstances that led to the death of a patient who went missing and was later found dead, AP/Modern Healthcare reports (AP/Modern Healthcare, 1/25).
Background
The patient -- a 57-year-old woman -- was admitted to the hospital on Sept. 19, 2013, with an infection. Two days later, she was reported missing from her hospital room.
On Oct. 8, 2013, a member of the hospital's engineering staff found the woman's body in a hospital stairwell used as a fire escape.
Five days later, a coroner's report ruled that the woman's death was an accident caused by "probable electrolyte imbalance with delirium" because of "complications of chronic ethanolism" (California Healthline, 1/3).
Details of Reforms
The hospital's corrective plan in response to the patient's death includes:
- Equipping stairwell doors with alarms that can only be turned off with a key;
Having nurses account for their patients when the alarms go off; and - Having sheriff's deputies who provide security at the hospital search the stairwells daily.