State probe of Rideout was routine

A reported state investigation into an issue at Rideout Regional Medical Center was in fact a routine survey looking into Medicare compliance at the Marysville hospital, a hospital official said Thursday.

Chance White, chief clinical officer for Rideout Health and the Rideout hospital administrator, said the state Department of Public Health last week was at the hospital surveying "Medicare conditions of participation." He said while there, state officials also looked into complaints the agency had received.

The explanation came after state Public Health Department confirmed a report the Appeal-Democrat received that it was conducting an investigation at the facility. The state department spokesman would not elaborate.

"I wouldn't call it an investigation," White said. "The state Department of Public Health routinely does surveys on Medicare conditions of participation."

That was why the officials were at the hospital, he said.

The conditions range from surgical procedures to discharge planning.

White said the state team, while conducting the survey, also looked at complaints filed with the department.

"It's an ongoing process," White said. "They had several complaints they were following up as well."

He said the complaints related to staffing ratios and nursing care, but not to any specific medical concerns.

"That was a very small portion of the entire survey," White said. "They were there to survey those regulations."

The outcome of those complaints is not yet known, White said. He said it can be three or four months for the state to respond to them.

A written statement submitted to the A-D by Rideout Health said representatives for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations have also been at the hospital in recent weeks, surveying the process of delivering medical care.