News & Observer | newsobserver.com | Accrediting agency at Cherry

Published: Oct 03, 2008 12:30 AM
Modified: Oct 03, 2008 02:45 AM

Accrediting agency at Cherry

 

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Reviewers from The Joint Commission, an agency that accredits medical facilities, made a surprise visit Wednesday to Cherry Hospital.

The development likely does not bode well for the state mental hospital in Goldsboro.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services withdrew federal funding from Cherry last month after the death of one patient and the beating of another.

Ken Powers, a spokesman for the commission, said Thursday the group is reviewing Cherry's accreditation based on both the federal finding and additional complaints regarding the quality of patient care at the state facility.

The results of the survey, which is still under way, will likely be known in about two weeks.

If the commission revokes Cherry's accreditation, it could endanger the hospital's ability to bill private insurance for patient treatment. Cherry has already lost about $800,000 a month in Medicare and Medicaid payments.

A similar sequence of events transpired last year, after Broughton Hospital in Morganton lost its accreditation from both agencies after a patient's death.

That state hospital regained federal funding in July, but is still not accredited by The Joint Commission.

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