x
Breaking News
More () »

All Children's Hospital fixes some problems after feds threaten to cut funding

The hospital said the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services accepted the plan, and deficiencies have been resolved.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In the months since a Tampa Bay Times investigation exposed major problems in its heart surgery program, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital submitted a corrective action plan to the federal government.

The hospital said federal investigators have accepted its Plan of Correction and "through an on-site survey" found deficiencies have been corrected.

Previous: All Children's Hospital hatches plan to fix its problems

More: Inspection reveals 'serious threat to patient health and safety' at Johns Hopkins All Children's

The hospital released a statement on the acceptance of its plan.

"Today Johns Hopkins All Children’s received word from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that they have accepted our Plan of Correction and through an on-site survey have validated that all deficiencies related to the finding of Immediate Jeopardy have been addressed," Public Relations Manager Danielle Caci said in an email. "This finding has now been removed. This is good news but is by no means the end of this important process. We take the issues raised by our regulators very seriously and will continue to collaborate closely with them as we implement our plan. We must be vigilant and diligent every day and, most importantly, we cannot forget what happened here and what we have learned. Patient safety is a core value and the very foundation on which we will rebuild the trust of our patients, their families and our community."

During a January inspection, several medical errors were found, including ones related to quality and infection control issues. The federal government threatened to cut funding if the hospital didn't come up with a fix. 

If that happened, the hospital wouldn't be eligible for Medicare payments.

The Times investigation, published in December 2018, said warning signs were missed about problems in the heart program. The newspaper reported the death rate for heart surgery patients tripled between 2015 and 2017.

The newspaper said the hospital's Heart Institute performed worse in 2017 than any pediatric heart surgery program in the state had in the past 10 years.

What other people are reading right now:

Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the 10News app now.

Have a news tip? Email desk@wtsp.com, or visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.

Before You Leave, Check This Out