State releases monitors at troubled Lufkin DaVita Dialysis
Inspectors were supposed to have left in mid-March, but stayed another month
LUFKIN – In a letter obtained exclusively by KETK-TV, the Texas Department of State Health Services says it released state monitors Tuesday at Lufkin DaVita Dialysis Center. Inspectors were supposed to have left in mid-March, but stayed another month, according to a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Earlier this month, a former nurse at DaVita was charged with murdering five patients by injecting bleach into their veins while they were undergoing treatment. Pollock resident, Kimberly Saenz, 35, was fired after an unusual number of deaths at DaVita Lufkin. State records show 19 people died at the clinic in the five months before Saenz was fired in late April 2008, well above the state average.
According to the Lufkin Daily News, a state surveyor who visited the facility March 17 found a component of the facility's water distribution system — a vital part of dialysis — had not been properly tested since the facility reopened nine months ago. The information was obtained in a survey report released by the state. It also stated the facility had an "immediate jeopardy" situation, which could have put patients at risk. The Daily News reports DaVita corrected that problem immediately, according to Carrie C. Williams, DSHS assistant press officer.
In a letter to DaVita Tuesday, DSHS says “this letter (is) acknowledgement of your facility’s successful completion of the corrective action plan (CAP) required from your resurvey completed for your facility on May 13, 2008.”
Complete Letter
Dr. Administrator,
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is providing this letter as acknowledgement of your facility's successful completion of the corrective action plan (CAP) required from your resurvey completed for your facility on May 13, 2008. A review of the materials that you have submitted by mail over the CAP period has demonstrated changes in the work environment and delivery of care at your facility required by the CAP. A resurvey of your facility on April 16, 2009 revealed significant improvement in patient care and regulatory compliance. We believe that this process has been beneficial and educational and has improved the care delivered to your patients and the work environment of your employees. Effective April 18, 2009, your facility is released from the CAP.
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