Safety

Chicago hospital in 'immediate jeopardy' of state takeover

Emergency Management Alert, July 26, 2005

The Illinois Department of Public Health (DPH) says that serious health code violations at a Chicago hospital may lead to a takeover of the facility as early as September, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

Provident Hospital has twice been declared in "immediate jeopardy," the most serious violation a hospital can receive, and faces a September deadline to present a plan to correct the most recent violations.

Inspectors from the DPH learned that

  • some patients died-including a two-day-old baby-after hospital workers left them unattended for a period of time

  • a supervisor allowed a known employee who tested positive for tuberculosis to work around patients for four months

  • biohazardous waste containers were left unsealed, out in the open

  • nursing aides cared for a patient confined to isolation, then tended to others without changing or washing

  • hospital workers left narcotics, such as morphine, in unlocked, open cabinets

  • doctors, nurses, and a housekeeper entered a surgery area, and then exited to socialize with other workers before returning

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