JCAHO questions DC hospital’s hiring policy
June 1, 1999
JCAHO questions DC hospital’s hiring policy
Investigation prompted by media report
Howard University Hospital in Washington, DC, must change the way it admits and assesses the competence of doctors, says an order issued in February by a committee of the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. JCAHO voted not to sanction the hospital, but demanded improvements in the hospital’s management and credentialing methods and asked for a progress report in six months.
The Joint Commission’s investigation was prompted by a report in The Washington Post last fall about a physician whose practice at the hospital was suspended for 15 months, then reinstated, after questions were raised about her treatment of women with high-risk pregnancies. Staff obstetrician/gynecologists alleged that the doctor had made "bad diagnoses, inadequately monitored high-risk patients, left some patients unattended, and failed to plan timely deliveries for patients with life-threatening medical problems." Some mothers and babies who had been treated died during delivery or soon after, stated the report.
The physician denied responsibility and sued Howard University Hospital after she was suspended, arguing that foreign-born doctors there discriminated against her because she is an African-American woman. Early last year, the university reinstated her and settled the lawsuit, but the Joint Commission still wants to see improvement.
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