RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia Department of Health is overdue on the vast majority of state mandated biennial hospital inspections as of August 7, according to numbers provided to CBS 6 by the state.
Ninety-nine percent of hospital inspections and 95 percent of outpatient surgical hospital inspections are overdue, per VDH.
State law requires VDH to inspect hospitals across the commonwealth every two years to ensure they are performing a number of quality and safety measures including: infection control in the nursery, establishing a hospital-wide infection surveillance program, assigning nursing personnel to patient care units in a manner that minimizes the risk of cross infection and accidental contamination, and have procedures to sterilize and dispose of waste and contaminated supplies.
Delegate Rodney Willett (D-58th District) chairs the state’s Joint Commission on Health Care and called the numbers “unacceptable.”
“Thanks for covering the topic, it is super important,” Willett said.
Shawnphyl Chambers, a mom whose NICU baby contracted the antibiotic-resistance infection MRSA while in Henrico Doctors’ Hospital in 2022, and who later learned through CBS 6’s reporting the MRSA outbreak circulated in that NICU for three years and infected 94 babies, called the numbers “troubling.”
Both Chambers and Del. Willett expressed concern over the numbers, which illustrate just how behind VDH’s Office of Licensure and Certification is on the biennial hospital inspections.
"I mean, I appreciate the fact VDH has struggled getting enough people to do enough inspections in a number of areas including, as we’ve talked before, about nursing homes. They’ve tried to bolster that program, but meanwhile they’re behind on the hospitals. I’m very concerned about that,” Willett said.
The current numbers are even worse than they were a year ago when the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found 99 percent of hospital inspections were overdue, and 91 percent of outpatient surgical hospital inspections were overdue in August of 2024.
“My message to the state is get it together because the public depends on you to make sure we are safe,” Chambers said.
“Do you think doing these inspections provides a level of oversight and accountability for the hospitals?” CBS 6 reporter Melissa Hipolit asked Willett.
"I think it does,” he replied.
Willett said VDH has struggled with recruiting inspectors, both to do nursing home inspections and hospital inspections.
“It’s not the easiest job, you’ve got to cover not just the large metropolitan areas of the state, the entire state, hospitals go from one end of the state to another so you’re talking about covering a lot of miles there. And then it’s tedious work to go through these inspections, and the standards you have to make sure the hospitals are abiding by,” Willett said.
He said VDH told him hospital complaint inspections are being addressed in a timely manner, but at the end of the day he said VDH has got to get these biennial inspections done.
He said he’s open to considering legislation or dollars if VDH feels action by the legislature could help them get the inspections done.
“If we feel like something is not adequate, we can pass additional legislation. We also have the power of the purse, we have multiple members of the Joint Commission who also sit on appropriations and senate finance, and we are coming up on a budget year,” Willett said.
“I think it needs to be addressed by the proper authorities to make sure that it doesn’t happen again because if it does keep happening we’re going to continue to see things like the MRSA outbreak,” Chambers said.
CBS 6 asked VDH why the vast majority of hospital inspections are overdue and a spokesperson sent us the following statement:
"OLC recognizes the importance of addressing the backlog of hospital and outpatient surgical hospital licensure surveys. That is why we have engaged in an aggressive recruitment initiative to fill every medical facility inspector opportunity so that we have a full team of experienced personnel to ensure that Virginians receive the best care possible when they enter any medical facility in the Commonwealth. Our strategy to achieve our hiring goals includes partnerships with stakeholders and state agencies committed to growing our workforce, as well as hiring incentives that match the private sector. Already we are seeing a record number of applicants for our current open positions. Yes, we have a backlog, but we also have a plan in action to eliminate it and prevent its recurrence."
We also asked the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, which represents the interests of the hospital industry, for their thoughts on the backlog.
The Vice President of Communications, Julian Walker sent us the following statement:
“Virginia hospitals prioritize health care quality and patient safety and hold themselves to high operational and performance standards in accordance with state and federal licensure inspections standards. Working with agencies including VDH and CMS are a part of that process, as are on-site visits from accreditation agencies such as The Joint Commission which also certify that hospitals meet rigorous standards. Hospitals’ commitment to provide quality care is also reflected in national accolades such as the bi-annual Hospital Safety Grades from the Leapfrog Group, which have regularly ranked Virginia as one of the top states in the nation for hospital safety.”
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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