PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — Pontiac General Hospital has filed for bankruptcy protection as they work to reorganize their finances in the wake of losing Medicare funding.
The Chapter 11 filing was made in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Saturday. The filing indicates the hospital has between 50-99 creditors, has between $1 million and $10 million in assets, and also owes between $1 million and $10 million.
The filing came one day before the announced ending of the reimbursement to the hospital for Medicare patients from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Earlier this month, the government alerted Pontiac General's owners that they were terminating the reimbursement agreement. The owners issued a WARN notice to the state of Michigan that the hospital would begin laying off people as early as this week.
At the time, the hospital said they expected the layoffs would be temporary.
CMS records obtained by the 7 Investigator Heather Catallo show a substantial allegation complaint survey revealed “noncompliance” related to Patient Rights.
Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services by WXYZ-TV Channel 7 Detroit on Scribd
While it’s not clear exactly which complaint started the federal probe – CMS records show a visit to the hospital in July found noncompliance with several things, including:
- Patient Rights
- Medical Staff
- Nursing Services
- Pharmaceutical Services and
- Infection Prevention, Control, and Antibiotic Stewardship
The WARN notice says the hospital does not expect that the entire facility will be affected and that they do not believe the hospital will shut down.
The exclusion from Medicare funding is the latest hit to Pontiac General. The 7 Investigators reported in February that the facility was using pre-signed blank forms to admit patients to their psych ward.
Records obtained by the 7 Investigators give us some insight as to why CMS ended the agreement.
In early April, CMS records show that a 41-year-old male patient was restrained after he started “swinging at staff.” The patient fell “prone to the floor” and staff kept him in that position. The records show one mental health tech used his knee, elbow and chest to keep the patient restrained.
The patient stopped moving, but it took staff several minutes to start CPR and even longer to bring a crash cart with a working defibrillator to the patient. Records show the defibrillator was not used for at least 13 minutes. The patient was pronounced dead after EMS transported him to a separate hospital.
Other findings by CMS investigators include staff punching a patient and hazardous items left accessible to developmentally delayed patients in a janitor’s closet.
