When hospitals are negligent and make mistakes, patients get hurt and often have legitimate medical malpractice claims against the hospital, clinic, or medical professional who was responsible. Experts say that most of the medical mistakes that are made in hospitals across the United States are avoidable. Because of this, many hospital administrations are beginning new initiatives to weed out problem employees, as well as training staff in ways to make their institutions more efficient and safe. However, there are still several hundred hospitals in America where the concerns for risk to the patient’s safety are extremely high. In Pennsylvania alone, there are thirty-nine hospitals which have been labeled as such. They are just a small percentage of the 750 hospitals nationwide with high rates of potentially avoidable mistakes, known as “hospital-acquired conditions” or HACs, which are being penalized by the federal government and Medicare.

At this time, the hospitals with high rates of hospital acquired conditions are having their Medicare funding reduced by 1% over the current fiscal year, which runs from last October until this coming September. In an effort to determine which hospitals were especially high risk to patient’s safety, Medicare took into account three types of hospital-acquired conditions.

http://kaiserhealthnews.org/news/721-hospitals-penalized-for-patient-safety/

The first HAC taken into consideration is known as “central-line associated bloodstream infections,” otherwise known as CLABSIs. The second type of HAC is called “catheter-associated urinary tract infections,” or CAUTIs. And the last HAC is simply called “Serious Complication.” Serious Complications are based on eight different types of injuries, including but not limited to blood clots, infections, deep vein thrombosis, falls, and bed sores.

Here in Pennsylvania, the following hospitals outside of our region are being penalized:

• Albert Einstein Medical Center – Philadelphia, PA – Philadelphia County
• Aria Health – Philadelphia, PA – Philadelphia County
• Barix Clinics of Pennsylvania – Langhorne, PA – Bucks County
• Brandywine Hospital – Coatesville, PA – Chester County
• Bryn Mawr Hospital – Bryn Mawr, PA – Delaware County
• Chambersburg Hospital – Chambersburg, PA – Franklin County
• Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital – Johnstown, PA – Cambria County
• Eastern Regional Medical Center – Philadelphia, PA – Philadelphia County
• Ephrata Community Hospital – Ephrata, PA – Lancaster County
• Geisinger Medical Center – Danville, PA – Montour County
• Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center – Wilkes-Barre, PA – Luzerne County
• Geisinger-Lewistown Hospital – Lewistown, PA – Mifflin County
• Grand View Hospital – Sellersville, PA – Bucks County
• Hospital of University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, PA – Philadelphia County
• Lehigh Valley Hospital – Allentown, PA – Lehigh County
• Lehigh Valley Hospital Muhlenberg – Bethlehem, PA – Lehigh County
• Lower Bucks Hospital – Bristol, PA – Bucks County
• Memorial Hospital – York, PA – York County
• Milton S. Hershey Medical Center – Hershey, PA – Dauphin County
• Nason Hospital – Roaring Spring, PA – Blair County
• Palmerton Hospital – Palmerton, PA – Carbon County
• Paoli Hospital – Paoli, PA – Chester County
• Pennsylvania Hospital – Philadelphia, PA – Philadelphia County
• Pottstown Memorial Medical Center – Pottstown, PA – Montgomery County
• Saint Vincent Hospital – Erie, PA – Erie County
• Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital – Wellsboro, PA – Tioga County
• St. Joseph Medical Center – Reading, PA – Berks County
• St. Joseph’s Hospital – Philadelphia, PA – Philadelphia County
• St. Luke’s Hospital Bethlehem – Bethlehem, PA – Northampton County
• St. Luke’s Quakertown Hospital – Quakertown, PA – Bucks County
• Surgical Specialty Center at Coordinated Health – Allentown, PA – Lehigh County
• Thomas Jefferson University Hospital – Philadelphia, PA – Philadelphia County
• Waynesboro Hospital – Waynesboro, PA – Franklin County

There are also several hospitals in our area that have been penalized by Medicare. If you live in or around Pittsburgh, chances are you have visited one of these hospitals in your lifetime. Whether it was a simple procedure, delivery of a baby, or major surgery, if you were a patient at one of these hospitals in our region, it’s important to know that you were at a higher-than-average risk of being injured by a hospital-acquired condition. The hospitals in our region that were penalized by Medicare include:

• Armstrong County Memorial Hospital (ACMH) – Kittanning, PA – Armstrong County
• Butler Memorial Hospital – Butler, PA – Butler County
• Heritage Valley Beaver is a hospital that serves most of Beaver County, as well as patients from Allegheny, Butler, and Lawrence Counties, in addition to parts of West Virginia and Ohio, Heritage Valley Beaver is one of the most popular medical centers for Pittsburgh’s surrounding communities. Most recently, there was close to a half million dollar lawsuit won against Heritage Valley Beaver for injuring a patient’s lateral femoral cutaneous nerve during back surgery.
• Magee Women’s Hospital of UPMC is the region’s only medical center that is solely committed to women’s health. There are approximately 11,000 babies born each year at Magee Women’s Hospital. That accounts for about 45% of all births in Allegheny County. As a place that was once recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a “National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health,” it’s disturbing that a place like Magee has been penalized for hospital acquired conditions.
• UPMC Passavant is the North Hills’ premiere medical center. UPMC Passavant now considers itself an “advanced care center” and claims to provide highly specialized medical and surgical treatment by expertly trained and renowned physicians. However, upon federally mandated inspections, it was found that UPMC Passavant was indeed deficient in several areas of patient care. As the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh continue to grow, residents are expecting better quality of care at medical institutions that tout themselves as “committed to excellence in patient care.”
• UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside – Pittsburgh, PA – Allegheny County

If for any reason you were recently a patient at one of these hospitals and you were injured or became ill, call the Pittsburgh medical malpractice attorneys at Richards & Richards today at 412-261-2620 for a free preliminary consultation.