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Unannounced inspection cites 'safety risk' at Texas VA hospital

Hospital Safety Connection, March 31, 2004

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A Temple, TX, veterans hospital is addressing a variety of problems found during a December unannounced inspection, including the installation of detectors to keep patients from wandering off, the Associated Press reports.

The Olin E. Teague Veterans Center's patients had bed sores and scabies, and use of patient restraints was above the national Veterans Affairs (VA) average, according to a report recently released to the Waco Tribune-Herald after the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request. The report said the hospital was "a potential safety risk."

The report was about VA officials' unannounced visit to the hospital in December, after an undercover investigation by ABC News' "Primetime Thursday," which plans to broadcast its findings next month.

The VA brought in Gerard Husson to temporarily head the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, which includes the VA hospitals in Temple and nearby Waco. Husson, director of the Beckley, WV, VA Medical Center, said he visited Temple last week and found the facility had made progress.

The VA inspection found excessive overtime ($88,000 in a year) at the Temple hospital, which serves about 51,000 people as outpatients and has 700 inpatient beds.

Officials were worried about insects after finding food containers beside patients' beds. They were also concerned about a prolonged scabies infection, caused by parasitic mites under the skin.

The hospital recently installed waterless handwash dispensers and antiseptic handwipes on food trays to prevent infection and insects. Patients in the nursing home unit are now checked each week for skin and wound care, and hospital officials are re-evaluating the use of restraints.

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