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January 24, 2004NMH flunks its reviewByRecord-Eagle staff writer PETOSKEY - A federal and state review of Northern Michigan Hospital has revealed "significant deficiencies" in infection control, and the facility could potentially lose its ability to serve patients on Medicare and Medicaid. The problems "limit your hospital's capacity to render adequate care and to ensure the health and safety of your patients," NMH president and CEO Thomas Mroczkowski was told in a letter from federal officials. Robert Daly, manager of the hospital branch of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Chicago, said in the Jan. 13 letter that the hospital "is no longer deemed to meet the Medicare Conditions of Participation." The state Bureau of Health Systems will now conduct a full-scale investigation of all of the hospital's practices to see if other violations exist, bureau director Walt Wheeler said. Once that review is completed, a plan of corrective action will be sought from the hospital to address all cited deficiencies, he said. Hospital management refused to comment. The hospital released an unsigned, written statement defending the facility's practices. "We remain confident this organization will stand up to any objective examination of its high quality care," the statement reads. "We sincerely regret that health care in the community has fallen victim to what is clearly a political attack, causing unwarranted alarm and hurting the hospital." The surveyors' findings indicate health care has suffered at NMH with the use of replacement nurses, said Ted Iorio, attorney for Teamsters Local 406, the union representing nurses who have been on strike from NMH for more than 14 months. "They didn't have these problems before (the strike)," he said. "We think it's directly related to the fact that the experienced, skilled nurses are not back in that hospital." The findings of deficiencies come less than three months after NMH received its highest-ever rating following a survey by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. The joint commission's endorsement is typically sufficient to keep a hospital in good standing with the Medicare program. But because of the state and federal surveyors' findings, NMH's Medicare status will now be determined following further surveying, federal and state approval of NMH's corrective actions, and demonstration that hospital staff are following them, Wheeler said. Said Iorio, "We've indicated that JCAHO is a self-contained, paid-for accreditation without merit. And this proves it." A team of state surveyors will begin a more complete review of hospital practices within the next 90 days, Wheeler said. A follow-up review on corrective action for infection control problems cited in the hospital's dialysis unit last August has not yet occurred, he said. In their statement, hospital officials blasted U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, who issued a press release Friday on the surveyors' findings at NMH, as well as copies of the report. Hospital officials accused Stupak of an "unwarranted, unfounded and unconscionable attack," and said his actions were "a transparent attempt at furthering his union agenda at the expense of this hospital, its employees and patients, and the community at large." Stupak said he asked the federal government to step in because he has received several complaints about inadequate care. "We have a number of very serious allegations that people have brought to me, and I want these allegations checked out," Stupak said. The hospital could lose millions of dollars in Medicare reimbursements if the federal government determines it is not in compliance. The hospital received $44 million in Medicare payments in 2001, Stupak said. The hospital's statement claimed the surveyors' report was incomplete and not ready for release, an assertion Wheeler disputed. "That's not true," he said. "The report is an official report that's the final report of the investigation." The Associated Press contributed to this report
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