Vt. hospital faces possible funding cuts after patient death

A state investigation has determined that two nurses at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, Vt., failed to provide proper care for a patient who arrived complaining of back pain and subsequently died in the emergency room. The patient was found dead by a non-clinical staff member, who notified the two nurses who had performed an initial assessment on the patient, but neither responded. Another nurse later alerted a physician. The cause of the patient’s death is unknown. The hospital is moving quickly to correct the problems identified following the patient’s death in hopes of retaining its CMS funding, which accounts for about 75% of the hospital’s budget, officials said.

Source: Burlington Free Press