FALL RIVER — A court-appointed monitor evaluating Steward Health Care hospitals for safety and patient care found no “areas of concern” beyond minor kitchen equipment issues during a recent visit to St. Ann’s hospital.
When Steward Health Care filed for bankruptcy and put its hospitals up for sale, a judge appointed Suzanne Koenig as “patient care ombudsman,” whose job it is to inspect facilities and flag any dangers to patients. The Boston-born, Dallas-based for-profit company runs hospitals across the state, including St. Ann’s, Morton Hospital in Taunton and Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton.
Koenig released his report on Tuesday after visiting 15 hospitals in Massachusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, accompanied by a nurse.
What did the Steward Health Care report look at?
According to Koenig’s report, she and representatives visited St. Ann’s Hospital on June 12. They toured the emergency department, pharmacy, pre- and post-operative areas, the intensive care unit, the hospital’s St. Theresa’s, St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart, St. Anthony’s, St. Catherine’s, St. Dominic’s and St. James medical units, and the hospital’s kitchen.
They studied many aspects of hospital operations: the cleanliness of the facilities, whether patient charts were filled out correctly, safety measures, whether the equipment was working properly, and even the temperature of the food served to patients.
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What did the St. Ann’s Hospital report find?
Koenig’s 12-page report, based on interviews with staff and a review of staffing guidelines, concluded that St. Anne’s was not experiencing staffing shortages in any of the departments it examined.
In the hospital’s medical department, the investigation “revealed consistent overstaffing of nursing assistants due to the anticipated need for constant observation of patients. When nursing shortages occurred in departments, nursing supervisors attempted to address staffing shortages by sending in additional nursing assistants when possible.”
No sector appears to be experiencing a supply shortage.
Interviews with orthopedic surgeons revealed “great working relationships” with staff, and members of the hospital’s Patient and Family Advisory Board had nothing but praise for the “caring and compassionate staff at all levels of the organization.”
Did the report find any deficiencies in the running of St. Anne’s Hospital?
“The hospital’s kitchen and other equipment needs to be purchased, repaired or replaced,” including double convection ovens and steamers, the report said, noting the kitchen only has one reach-in refrigerator.
The report said the kitchen was clean but that staff served the food inefficiently, leaving much of the food cold and needing to be reheated. After providing advice on better ways to plate the food, “staff embraced the process and expressed appreciation for the educational opportunity,” the report said.
“whole, [Koenig] It felt like the entire kitchen staff was doing their best to get the food out as quickly as possible while ensuring precision and great customer service.”
