KS- Kansas State Hospital Loses Full Accreditation

5-24-2007 Kansas:

LARNED - Inspectors found a variety of “inhumane” conditions at Larned State Hospital, including filthy living areas, frigid showers and a lack of supervision that contributed to a patient’s death, a Kansas Department of Health and Environment report shows.

In addition, a private national agency that conducts oversight of thousands of hospitals has reduced Larned from full accreditation to conditional status until problems that its own inspectors found are corrected.

Larned, about 25 miles southwest of Great Bend, confines some of the state’s most mentally troubled people.

Some are committed because they are considered a danger to themselves or society.

Some sex offenders are sent there after serving prison time.

The KDHE report was based on November inspections triggered by numerous complaints from patients.

The report “indicates a number of issues, violations of both federal and state law,” said Joseph Kroll, director of KDHE’s Bureau of Child Care and Health Facilities. “I think the report speaks for itself.”

The report said, “Throughout the hospital, the governing body failed to assure that patients received care in a safe, clean and comfortable environment.”

Hospital superintendent Mark Schutter said he thinks the report overstates some of the problems.

However, he said, “Whatever has been cited, we have addressed or are in the process of addressing if it takes a longer period of time to do that.”

SRS responds

The Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, which runs Larned and other state mental hospitals, contends that KDHE overstated the problems.

“I think some of the terminology and things they use makes it a little more inflammatory than what you’ll see out at the institution,” said Ray Dalton, SRS deputy secretary for health care policy.

In a written response, SRS asked that KDHE tone down the description of Larned’s cleanliness and questioned whether regulations require providing hot water for showers and hand-washing.

KDHE refused to rewrite the report. The agencies are close to settling on a final plan to address the issues and prevent recurrence, officials said. KDHE expects the problems to be corrected within six months and will reinspect the facility, Kroll said.

A tour by an Eagle reporter and photographer Thursday found that many things cited in the KDHE report — such as grease-crusted dining tables, dust-clogged ventilators and 3- to 5-foot-long cobwebs in the pool area — are cleaner now.

Most showers and sinks checked during the tour dispensed warm water. In some sinks, however, the hot water button did not work or the pressure was so low that water trickled down the outside of the faucet instead of running into the sink.

Accreditation at stake

Before November, Larned hadn’t undergone a state inspection since 2000, Kroll said.

The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission on Health Care Organizations. “Because of that, they’re not routinely scheduled for inspections by the state,” he said.

The report cites 10 ongoing complaint investigations.

The joint commission inspected Larned in August after it also received complaints. The facility had last been inspected and reaccredited in 2003, said Char Hill, a spokeswoman for the body.

The joint commission’s survey is not a public document. However, the commission published requirements for Larned to reattain full accreditation that include improvements in food preparation and distribution, better medication storage and administration and improved infection control.

Patient’s choking death

The most serious finding in the KDHE report outlines the case of a female patient who choked to death April 1.

The unidentified woman had a number of health problems, including a swallowing disorder called “Level III dysphagia.”

According to the report, the woman was to be placed on a special diet of soft foods in bite-size pieces that would not clump in the throat, eliminating sticky foods and most bread and cereal products.

The woman had a history of rummaging food from trash cans and hoarding food, the report said. The week before her death, she complained of something in her throat and coughed up “two medium-sized pieces of ham.”

On the morning of April 1, the staff found the woman in an unresponsive state with food lodged in her mouth.

“Staff identified the mass as pancakes,” the report said. “Breakfast that morning consisted of pancakes and syrup.” ..News Source.. by DION LEFLER, Eagle Topeka bureau