“This is a huge accomplishment for the Department of Nursing under the leadership of April Ricotta,” he said, referring to the CHC nursing director.
Earlier, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services said CHC was not complying with federal standards.
This meant that CHC could lose $10 million in reimbursements a year from Medicare.
Villagomez said a Medicare team led by nurse consultant Edgardo Q. Japitano inspected the hospital, except for the hemodialysis unit, last week.
This week, the Medicare team will inspect the hemodialysis unit for four to five days, Villagomez added.
The other members of the Medicare team are nurse consultant Renie A. Soria, U.S. Public Health Service captain and nurse consultant Alex Garza, and U.S. Public Health Service captain and nurse consultant Leslie L. Royall.
He said the Medicare team spent five days to inspect CHC.
On Friday, Villagomez said they had an exit meeting with the team.
“The nursing jeopardy status that was given to us in their last visit some nine months ago was lifted,” he added.
But the Medicare team found certain areas in the dietary department, the credentialing of physician issues, the infectious control department and facilities that need to be addressed, he said.
These issues have to be dealt with as soon as possible so that they do not lead to “any jeopardy issues,” he added.
Villagomez said the Medicare team will submit its recommendations in the next few weeks and CHC will respond to it.
Deputy Secretary for Hospital Administration Esther Muna will lead CHC’s response team.
Villagomez said the specific procedures they will follow in implementing corrective actions will be based on the report they will receive from Medicare.
The Medicare team that inspected CHC will report back to San Francisco, review its findings and share then with its superiors, he added.
Within weeks, he said, CHC will hear from the Medicare team.
But “some of the corrective measures are already being addressed as of today,” Villagomez said.
“Overall, we did not get a jeopardy rating, so I am very pleased and thankful to all the staff at CHC for putting up the extra efforts to keep the hospital running at a level that results in the delivery of quality healthcare for the people of the CNMI,” he added.
