DOJ Releases Fourth VSH
Compliance Report
Shows
Marked Improvement In Patient Care, Safety
Waterbury, Vt.--The U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently issued
their fourth compliance report for the Vermont State Hospital (VSH), based on an
on-site review of the facility conducted in early March, 2008. The DOJ
report shows that VSH is compliant with the key components of the agreement made between the federal
government and the State in July 2006. The report evaluates the progress the
hospital is making in 140 areas, with a 5-point scoring system, ranging from Non-Compliant
to Sustained Compliance.
“I’m pleased that this report highlights the significant
efforts the Department of Mental Health (DMH) and VSH staff has undertaken to
improve the provision of care at the hospital for Vermont’s acutely mentally ill,”
noted Agency of Human Services Secretary Cynthia D. LaWare. “Ensuring
VSH provides high quality, compassionate care, and remains a safe and secure
facility for Vermont’s
most vulnerable, is essential as the State moves forward to secure agreements
with our community partners to develop a new system of care that will
eventually replace this aging facility.”
The reviewers, Dr. Jeffrey Geller, MD, MPH and Dr. Mohammed
El-Sabaawi, met with management, staff, and patients at the Waterbury campus
for four days and offered in their report that, "staff of VSH at all
levels should be most pleased with the improvements their efforts have yielded
to date".
Among the most improved areas were the protections of
patients from harm, the quality improvement of patient care, the environmental
conditions and building safety of the hospital, and mental health
assessments. Areas where there has been marked improvement, but are still
in need of attention, include specific treatment services and the integration
of services across all hospital services.
“It was evident from this visit that VSH leadership and staff
have made significant progress to ensure VSH has become a safer and more effective
treatment provider, and the Department will continue working to improve the
mental health service delivery experience for all patients at VSH,” said DMH
Commissioner Michael Hartman.
The hospital has been working toward regaining both Joint Commission on
Health Care Organizations accreditation, and certification by the federal
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to assure high quality patient care
for Vermont’s
most severely mentally ill.
The DOJ report is available for viewing and download on the DMH
website: http://healthvermont.gov/mh/programs/hospital/index.aspx
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