Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital will continue to get federal funding after regulators said Friday that the St. Petersburg hospital made required improvements.
The Hospital faced a Saturday deadline to correct problems found during an investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The hospital was deficient in several areas that were deemed a threat to public health and safety, including infection control and issues with the hospital’s medical staff and governing body.
The hospital was placed in a status called “immediate jeopardy,” which federal guidelines describe as “a crisis situation.”
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a 49-page report Friday, detailing the hospital’s deficiencies. An official said the agency was continuing to monitor the hospital’s progress but the immediate jeopardy status had been removed.
“This is good news but is by no means the end of this important process,” hospital officials said in a statement released Friday. “We take the issues raised by our regulators very seriously and will continue to collaborate closely with them as we implement our plan.”
Earlier this month, the hospital submitted a plan of correction, which was accepted by federal regulators.
That plan was not made available Friday.
Federal officials began investigating after a Tampa Bay Times investigation found the mortality rate in the hospital's heart surgery unit dramatically increased over the past few years.
“We must be vigilant and diligent every day and, most importantly, we cannot forget what happened here and what we have learned,” hospital officials said in the statement. “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.”
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