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Council questions oversight, staffing and quality at Cedar Hill hospital
Summary
Committee members pressed the deputy mayor about Cedar Hill hospital's operational problems, staffing shortages and the limits of the district's contractual levers. Turnage said the operating agreement is 'full risk' after reserves but that the district primarily can enforce service commitments specified in that agreement; DC Health handles patient-safety enforcement.
Council members raised concerns about Cedar Hill's quality of care and the district's ability to enforce operational standards at the newly opened hospital. Deputy Mayor Wayne Turnage said the district negotiated a full-risk operating agreement that obligates the operator to meet specific service commitments; he said that while the district cannot dictate day-to-day operations, it can hold the operator accountable to requirements in the operating agreement.
Turnage told the committee that staffing—particularly nurses—has been the primary constraint slowing promised outpatient services and that a large share of nurses initially were travel nurses. "Operating in this environment, it is very, very difficult to find nurses," Turnage said, noting that the operator had relied heavily on travel nurses during early months. He also reminded the committee that DC Health is the regulator for patient safety and that complaints of egregious patient outcomes should be reported to DC Health for investigation.
