ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Time is just about up for Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital to submit its corrective plan to the feds.
The deadline is Sunday for the hospital to provide a written plan to fix serious problems that posed an "immediate or serious threat to patient health and safety" and were uncovered during a recent government inspection.
Several medical errors were found during the January inspection -- including quality and infection control issues, plus staff management -- but no fines were imposed.
The federal government threatened to cut funding if the hospital did not act.
In December, the Tampa Bay Times first reported several warning signs were missed about problems in the heart surgery program.
The newspaper found the death rate for heart surgery patients tripled between 2015-17, and the hospital's Heart Institute performed worse in 2017 than any pediatric heart surgery program in Florida had in the past decade.
A spokesperson said the hospital will meet the deadline.
"We take these findings seriously and are continuing to work in close coordination and consultation with both AHCA and CMS to immediately address their concerns," Kim Hoppe said. "We will submit our corrective action plan by their deadline in areas including governance, physician credentialing, quality improvement planning and infection control.
"The safety of our patients is our top priority. We are confident in the work we are doing to ensure that our hospital continues to meet the highest standards of care."
After a plan is approved, federal and state investigators will go onsite, unannounced, to verify the corrective actions are in place.
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