It's deja vu all over again:
"Arbour must submit correction plan for 4 facilities" by Evan Allen and Liz Kowalczyk Globe Staff April 09, 2016
The state Department of Mental Health ordered four Arbour Health System psychiatric facilities to correct “significant patient care and life safety violations” or risk a shutdown of admissions, according to a statement from a state spokeswoman.
Over the past several weeks, state officials conducted a series of unannounced licensing inspections, at all hours and on weekends, at every Arbour Health System inpatient facility in Massachusetts, said Executive Office of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Michelle Hillman in a statement.
The violations discovered require “immediate corrective action,” she said. The nature of the violations was not immediately available, nor were details of the corrective plans.
The state’s demands were reported Saturday by The Patriot Ledger.
Not the Globe?
The violations are the latest in a series of issues discovered within Arbour Health System, which is the largest private behavioral health care provider in the state.
Arbour has been repeatedly cited by state regulators over the past several years for poor care and inadequate staffing, and the Department of Justice is currently investigating five of its hospitals for possible billing fraud.
At Arbour-HRI Hospital in Brookline two years ago, public health officials found the hospital failed to provide active treatment to some patients. And the US Supreme Court this month plans to review a case brought against Universal Health Services by the parents of a teenager who died in October 2009 after receiving care at an Arbour clinic in Lawrence.
See: High court will hear case tied to Mass. clinic death
That was before Scalia was killed.
The girl’s parents contend that the company defrauded government insurance programs.
“United Health Services has been maximizing profits at the expense of patients, which I feel is at the root of the problem,” said Kevin Hall, New England director of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights.
Why is that a problem?
Hall said his national organization has been investigating United Health Services throughout the country. “People should do the research,” he said.
Unannounced visits by Department of Mental Health officials on Thursday showed signs of some improvements in all four hospitals, according to the department, including the repair, organization, and cleaning of some areas identified as needing improvement.
Pembroke has obtained new emergency carts for all units, and trained nursing staff on their location and use, according to the department. The seclusion room on the adolescent unit was repaired and painted, and evidence of air quality testing was provided. Signs and postings were updated, and extra safety equipment was put in place. Food storage and handling were improved.
The department will continue unannounced visits, according to officials, and will focus on safety, emergency preparedness, actual staffing levels, responsiveness to patient needs, and cleanliness....
You would be crazy to check into one of those places.
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Related: This Is Crazy
Typing the same things over and over and expecting a different result.
