DATE: Tuesday, October 28, 1997             TAG: 9710280284

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BILL BASKERVILL, ASSOCIATED PRESS

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   64 lines

CENTRAL STATE HOSPITAL PUT ON PROBATION ACCREDITATION PANEL GIVES THE PETERSBURG FACILITY SIX MONTHS TO CORRECT PROBLEMS

The national medical commission that accredits most hospitals in the country gave Central State Hospital six months to correct serious patient care problems or risk losing its accreditation.

The Chicago-based Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations on Monday downgraded Central State's accreditation to conditional.

``The conditional accreditation could be thought of as a probationary type status,'' commission spokeswoman Janet McIntyre said. Conditional accreditation is the lowest of five levels of accreditation issued by the commission.

The commission, whose stamp of approval is a virtual necessity for a hospital to operate in the United States, said Central State must submit a plan of correction within one month. A follow-up inspection will be conducted in six months, the commission said.

``Conditional accreditation is awarded when an organization is not in substantial compliance with Joint Commission standards but is believed to be capable of achieving acceptable standards compliance within a stipulated time period,'' the commission said in a statement.

The next step, if problems aren't corrected, is preliminary withdrawal of accreditation.

McIntyre said she could not talk about specific problems found at Central State until the hospital receives the joint commission's full report early next month.

The commission had given Central State a clean bill of health in June, but its inspectors returned for a rare surprise visit in August after the U.S. Justice Department issued a sharply critical report of patient care at the hospital.

Valerie L. Marsh, executive director of the Virginia Alliance for the Mentally Ill, said the commission's action was not strong enough.

``I believe that the quality of care at Central State is still so precarious that . . . it would have been more honest of JCAHO to withdraw accreditation and force the hospital to really improve the quality of care beyond promises on pieces of paper,'' she said.

Martha Mead, spokeswoman for the state Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, said the department is confident Central State will regain full accreditation.

The commission had decided on June 4 that Central State could keep its three-year accreditation that expires in 1999.

On June 30, however, the Justice Department accused the hospital of failing to protect the rights of patients by subjecting them to inadequate care, abuse and even death. It also charged that Central State provided inadequate psychiatric care, improperly used medications, and used restraint and seclusion for punishment.

One patient, Gloria Huntley, died in June 1996 after being strapped down for 300 hours in the final month of her life, despite her physician's warning that restraints could kill her because she suffered from asthma, epileptic seizures and a heart condition. KEYWORDS: CENTRAL STATE HOSPITAL PROBATION

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