Oregon State Hospital Inquiries Find 'Range Of' Deficiencies

JUNCTION CITY, OR — A federal inquiry into the escape of a patient from the Junction City campus of the Oregon State Hospital turned into a broader investigation that "identified a range of supervision and reporting deficiencies there," the Oregon Health Authority announced Monday.

Oregon State Hospital administrators have 10 days to submit an action plan to correct the problems, said the OHA, which oversees the hospital.

If they don't, the hospital risks losing the certification it needs to be reimbursed for federal Medicare payments, according to the OHA.

The inquiry was conducted by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services into the 75-bed psychiatric facility, focusing on operations in December 2021 and January 2022. The federal agency must certify each medical facility that receives federal money in return for providing patient care.

In addition, surveyors from the state's Health Facility Survey and Certification Program in the Health Care Regulation and Quality Improvement (HRQI) Section of OHA also conducted an investigation.

Among the deficiencies found by the federal investigators were:

• Failure to ensure patients' rights were recognized, protected, and promoted.
• Failure to prevent elopement of patients during off-campus activities.
• Failure to maintain accountability for patients during on-campus activities off the secure unit.
• Failure to prevent patient entry into unauthorized areas.
• Failure to prevent patient to patient sexual contact and sexual assault.
• Failure to prevent patient to patient physical altercations.
• Failure to prevent patient suicide attempts and self-harm with contraband, unsafe and prohibited items.

"We look forward to addressing each of the administrative, documentation and supervision issues highlighted in this report," State Hospital Superintendent Dolly Matteucci said in a release.

The patient whose escape spurred the investigation, left the hospital on Dec. 2, 2021. A spokesman for Oregon Health Authority did not immediately respond to a question about whether the patient was ever found.