FARMINGTON – Franklin Memorial Hospital officials said Friday that a state licensing board has placed the hospital on a conditional one-year license to operate.
Officials stated that the hospital completed a required state licensing inspection, and although the state affirmed quality care in many departments, the licensing board identified some procedural problems in some departments.
However, the state claims it has made no decisions on the hospital’s license.
“Franklin Memorial Hospital is nationally recognized as a quality institution with an impeccable reputation,” John R. Nicholas, commissioner of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, stated in an e-mail Friday. “Although the Department of Health and Human Services did dispatch a licensure team to the hospital, we have not made any formal decisions regarding licensure.”
The department’s Division of Licensing and Certification completed a regularly scheduled licensing survey at the hospital on Thursday. Information gathered during the survey, and the recommendations of the survey team, are now being compiled and reviewed.
“No decisions have yet been made concerning the citation of any deficiencies, nor has any decision yet been made concerning the status of the hospital’s license. The department is required to issue its findings and determinations within 10 days from the completion of the survey, and expects to do so by the end of next week,” Nicholas stated.
“We knew that there was no formal report issued by the state, but we wanted the public to be aware of what we learned during this survey experience,” Gerald R. Cayer, hospital senior vice president/chief operating officer, said Friday.
“We’re appreciative and thankful for the commissioner’s comments,” Cayer said. However, he said the state inspection team told hospital officials what was going to happen with the license.
“This is not a quality-of-care issue,” Cayer said. “This is about the internal process of reviewing and reporting quality initiatives to the hospital’s board of directors.”
Once the hospital demonstrates it has addressed procedural issues identified by the state, the license is expected to have the word “conditional” removed and convert to full licensure, Cayer said.
The hospital has received three-year licenses in the past, Cayer said, but will operate on a one-year license until the state licensing team returns next year to review the hospital’s operations.
The state board affirmed quality care in many areas of the hospital, including “infection control, rehabilitation services, utilitzation and review, discharge planning social service, and dietary services,” the hospital’s release stated.
However, the state identified procedural problems in several departments, including radiology, medical records, physical plant, outpatient services and nursing services.
The state drew particular attention to the hospital’s quality improvement documentation and procedures as they relate to the medical staff, the release stated.
Cayer said the hospital has already invited the state team back to evaluate modifications the hospital plans to make in its system to meet requirements. Cayer said he was meeting Friday with the medical director and quality assurance director to evaluate the structure of the system. The hospital participates in multiple quality studies, Cayer said, to get the feedback to make improvements to its health care system.
“There is absolutely no question that we provide top quality patient care,” hospital President Richard Batt said in the release. “This survey helped us identify some key procedural problems that we will immediately fix. As countless outside reviews have consistently affirmed, Franklin Memorial Hospital is an outstanding institution with top quality patient care and exceptional physicians and nurses.”
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