The Brattleboro Retreat has until September 2 to file plans for correcting problems found during a recent inspection. The hospital鈥檚 Medicare and Medicaid contracts could be terminated if it fails to comply.
The retreat鈥檚 latest problems surfaced in an inspection that was prompted by an altercation on the hospital鈥檚 adolescent unit, which sent four employees to the hospital. Regulators say the retreat followed proper protocol in that incident, but they found new problems that were deemed potential threats to
"I'm totally confident that.... we'll be back in compliance and the contract will continue uninterrupted." - Konstantine von Krusenstiern, Brattleboro Retreat
patient safety.
The violations included a cracked light fixture that a patient could have used to inflict harm and a key that broke off in a patient鈥檚 locked door. The hospital was also cited for an incident involving sexual contact between two adolescent patients, and for not conducting the required internal review after the incident was discovered. Retreat spokesman Konstantine von Krusenstiern says the hospital has already begun correcting the problems. He says the regulators鈥� close scrutiny can be challenging but leads to constant improvement.
"I don鈥檛 want to underplay the seriousness of this," Krusenstiern says. "But I鈥檓 totally confident that when the surveyors return we鈥檒l be back in full compliance and the contract will continue uninterrupted."
If its plan of correction is approved the retreat must put it into practice and pass another unannounced inspection by October 6.
