Investigators approve hospital plan

TAMPA - Tampa General Hospital has fixed safety problems endangering psychiatric patients there, federal officials said Friday afternoon.

After a four-day investigation, surveyors have signed off on the hospital's plan to improve safety in its psychiatric unit, ending the threat to stop Medicare funding to the hospital.

Two psychiatric patients killed themselves in the same room at Tampa General within two days in July, prompting a government investigation. The hospital flunked that investigation, prompting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to declare the hospital's patients "in immediate jeopardy."

"We've had seven surveyors here for the past four days, and they've reported that every issue that was raised has been addressed," said hospital spokesman John Dunn said Friday. "They are comfortable with the care we are providing on that unit."

CMS spokeswoman Lee Millman also said the hospital had passed the inspection.

"At Tampa General, the immediate jeopardy was removed, and there were no conditions out of compliance," she said.

In the unit, the hospital replaced closet and bathroom doors with doors designed for safety, started video monitoring in all patient rooms and other parts of the psychiatric units, and set in place a policy saying that patients needing constant observation would be assigned a staff member and be allowed to sleep in their rooms, not in the hallways as regulators found had occurred. The hospital also said that the nurse in charge of the unit will conduct an unannounced inspection, and report all findings to the hospital's nurse manager.

Lisa Greene, Times staff writer

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