State to probe Franklin hospital

State senator says nurses overtaxed at Franklin Regional

Franklin County's only hospital, already under the scrutiny of federal regulators, will now face a state investigation after a state senator complained that hospital nurses are overworked because of staff shortages, resulting in lapses in patient care.

State health officials will investigate Franklin Regional Medical Center after a complaint from state Sen. Doug Berger, a Youngsville Democrat, according to a letter state Department of Health and Human Services sent Berger on Monday.

Last week, Berger filed a formal complaint to DHHS citing two reports from the federal Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services that outlined patient care and safety problems found at the hospital following the death of a patient after elective knee surgery.

"In the CMS reports, there are numerous examples of situations where certain health and safety protocols were not followed or not documented," Berger wrote. "I have reason to believe these problems may very well be associated with a lack of appropriate staffing of medical personnel."

Berger's complaints included:

* Nurses worked eight- and 16-hour shifts with no breaks.

* Breaks could not occur because of inadequate staffing.

* Staff did not receive lunch breaks.

On Wednesday, Berger said the intent of his complaint was to prompt the hospital to "put forward a plan that would keep them adequately staffed."

A Franklin Regional spokeswoman said the hospital's staff levels would be addressed as part of the federal investigation now under way.

"We've been working diligently to satisfy CMS requirements," Bonnie Little said. "We are going to continue to do that."

Berger called DHHS Secretary Dempsey Benton on June 9, the day after The News & Observer reported on the failings that federal investigators had found at Franklin Regional. Investigators found poor record-keeping by the medical staff as well as problems with how quickly the hospital's labs reported important test results.

The federal investigation started in March and centered on the death of William Bobbitt Paschall, 76, who died a day after being admitted to the hospital for knee replacement surgery. It also prompted a threat from CMS to pull federal payments from the hospital.

A second investigation in April uncovered more problems related to patient complaints and anesthesia services.

The report effectively derailed a $103 million project to move the hospital from Louisburg, the county seat in the center of Franklin County, to Youngsville, close to the border of Wake County and the suburban development moving north out of Wake Forest.

A third investigation in May found additional problems with pharmaceutical and respiratory services in a yet-unreleased report.

For a second time, CMS officials threatened to pull federal Medicaid and Medicare dollars from Franklin Regional. The hospital has until Sunday to correct the faults.