U.S. cuts money to hospital

Broughton's quality of care in question after incidents

Saturday, Sept. 1, 2007

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

The federal government has stopped some Medicaid and Medicare payments to Broughton Hospital, a state mental health facility in Burke County, because of concerns over a patient death in February and an injury to another patient in August.

State officials said Friday that Broughton, one of the state's four mental health hospitals, will not receive money for Medicaid or Medicare patients admitted to the facility after Aug. 25. State officials learned of the decision Thursday.

That means state taxpayers will pick up the bill for patients the federal government would have covered. About 20 percent of the hospital's $60 million yearly budget is paid by the federal medical insurance programs.

State officials said they were going to resolve problems at Broughton that prompted the punishment.

Dropping a hospital from the federal insurance programs is a drastic move, according to The News & Observer of Raleigh. The office that oversees Medicare and Medicaid often threatens to cut off federal money but almost never does so.

"It's rare that we involuntarily terminate a Medicare contracting hospital," said Tony Salters, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Medicaid and Medicare patients who were at the hospital on or before Aug. 25 will be covered by federal money for 30 days, said Jim Osberg, chief of state operated services at the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.

Broughton, about 75 miles northwest of Charlotte, will still admit Medicaid and Medicare patients, Osberg said, but will not receive federal funding as compensation until the hospital is reviewed again by the Medicare and Medicaid Services, which won't be for at least a month.

About 22 percent of the 287 patients receive Medicaid or Medicare, state officials said.

The federal action was due in part to the Feb. 1 death of 27-year-old Anthony Lowery.

An autopsy report said that Lowery, who had a history of schizophrenia, died of asphyxia after a 300-pound staff member sat on his torso for two or three minutes. Lowery tried to bite the man during that time, the report said. The State Bureau of Investigation is investigating.
"To my knowledge, this was an accidental death," Osberg said.

The Medicare and Medicaid Services had ordered hospital officials to devise a plan to avoid such situations but decided to deny the payments after another incident, officials said. On Aug. 19, a patient who was supposed to be under close supervision fell. The patient is recovering.

Experts sent by the state will be at Broughton on Tuesday to identify problems and fix them, Osberg said. The federal government will inspect Broughton again after the state develops a plan for improvement.


The (Raleigh) News & Observer and Associated Press contributed.


All content © THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER and may not be republished without permission.