FOUNTAIN SPRINGS - The number of residents in the Long-Term Care Center at Saint Catherine Medical Center Fountain Springs is down to 11 this morning, and in the near future will be empty, as is the rest of the medical center.
LTCC residents began to be moved to other nursing or personal care facilities on Wednesday. In all, 13 of the 24 residents had found other places to live, with the remainder to be moved as soon as vacancies can be found by their families.
Jennifer M. Pisarchick, administrative director, Strategic Planning and Marketing at Saint Catherine's, confirmed that the residents are being moved out.
"We are voluntarily working with the (state) Department of Health in transferring patients with the least stress during this transition as possible," Pisarchick said in a phone interview.
Pisarchick said the residents are being transferred to local facilities, but did not know which ones they were transferred to on Wednesday. The transfers are being coordinated through the Department of Health.
"They do have time to find places to go. We are consulting with the residents and their families," Pisarchick said.
Working with the medical center and the Department of Health is Complete Healthcare Resources-Eastern Inc., Dresher, Pa.
"We're a long-term care management and consulting firm," said CHR Regional Vice President Edwin Balliet. He is responsible for overseeing operations in Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.
"Our company is hired by the Department of Health's Division of Long-Term Care Services," Balliet said. "We are brought in as an agent of the Department of Health to ensure an orderly transition of the residents."
Balliet, who was at Saint Catherine's Wednesday, said there is a team to make sure that everything goes smoothly as the residents are moved to their new homes.
"We brought a team of specialists with us," Balliet said. "We have nurse clinicians, social workers, business office consultants. We're working with the facility staff to work with the families in giving them the options of the skilled facilities within the area. We're working with the residents, families and their physicians to help them find appropriate placement."
Balliet confirmed that 13 residents have been moved.
"As a group, we talked about it, and early Tuesday morning the group (CHR) came in to assist us," Pisarchick said about the hospital deciding to move the residents. "This is a process that everyone is working together for the best interests of the residents."
Pisarchick said the residents are being moved individually and not en masse.
According to a broadcast report, the medical center was the target of a surprise federal inspection on March 23 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The inspection showed that there was "immediate jeopardy to the health and safety of patients" put at risk, and that employees had deductions taken from their pays for disability insurance, retirement funds, union dues, federal income tax and Social Security without the funds being forwarded to the appropriate agencies.
On March 23, the state Department of Health completed a complaint investigation at Saint Catherine Medical Center to determine compliance with state licensure and federal Medicare and Medicaid regulations for hospitals. As a result of this investigation, the department discovered serious deficiencies and violations of applicable regulations that it felt posed a significant threat to the health and safety of the patients at the facility, banning new admissions effective March 23. On March 30, the remainder of patients in the hospital were transported to other facilities, leaving only the LTCC residents in the hospital. The state Department of Health also banned any services from being performed in the emergency room and laboratories.