PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona State Hospital is now in compliance with federal regulations and is no longer at risk of losing its Medicare funding, according to a letter from an official.
The letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, dated March 10, states that the psychiatric hospital now meets the requirements to receive Medicare funding. The hospital was notified in November that deficiencies in nursing care, patient rights and the hospital’s oversight board could result in it losing its Medicare funds.
The hospital has about 320 patients in three units: a 120-bed unit for civilly committed mentally ill patients, another 120 beds for people sent to the hospital by criminal courts and a sexually violent persons unit that holds 80 patients. The inspection covered only the civil commitment side.
The hospital received $11 million in Medicare and $52 million from the state general fund in 2011.
State officials said in November they were certain the hospital would not lose its Medicare certification and funding.
The threat came after a survey conducted by the state health services division that inspects medical facilities.
State officials say they created and implemented a plan of correction in December, which they turned over to CMS. CMS inspectors visited the hospital again last month and found the plan had been put into place.
“Obviously, it’s a decision that we expected as the outcome,” said Cory Nelson, the state’s deputy director for behavioral health. “We’ve said all along that it was our intent to continue to work on the quality improvement aspects that we’ve been focusing on at the hospital for some time.”
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