The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has accepted Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital’s revised plan of correction, according to the hospital. The decision puts the hospital’s certification to continue receiving Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements on a strong footing, which is good financial news for the hospital.
Hospital executives were notified of the decision on Tuesday. In a letter dated Feb. 16, CMS officials wrote, “The Plans of Correction submitted for the survey conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on December 11, 2015 were reviewed and found acceptable.”
Last month, JFL received news from CMS that it had achieved condition-level compliance with required conditions of participation after the full book survey conducted by CMS. However, there were some deficiencies identified by CMS and federal officials required a plan of correction by Jan. 14, 2016. JFL submitted the plan Jan. 12 and resubmitted it for approval Feb. 4 with revisions made to areas identified by CMS.
“JFL management and staff are delighted to receive the news that CMS has accepted the hospital’s plan of correction,” acting JFL Chief Executive Officer Ken Okolo said in a statement.
CMS officials are requiring JFL to submit monthly status reports on the installation of extensions of the sprinkler system for the next three months as part of the correction plan. They are also asking for a letter of completion once the sprinkler extension project is finished. “The governing board of directors and the entire staff of JFL have worked very hard to meet the CoPs and we continue to strive on a daily basis to deliver quality health care to the residents and visitors of the territory,” JFL Governing Board Chairman Troy de-Chabert Schuster said in a statement.
“We view our success thus far as an incentive to work even harder to surpass the mandates and requirements of CMS,” de-Chabert Schuster said. “We hope to inspire the people’s confidence in our delivery of health care and we hope the people of the Virgin Islands will continue to entrust us with their health care.”
