US

VA Hospital Had Soiled Wheelchairs

Getty Images

Alex Pfeiffer White House Correspondent
Font Size:

A report released by the Veterans Affairs Office Of Inspector General Wednesday reviewing the quality of the operations at Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, MA showed that a majority of patient care areas had soiled or damaged wheelchairs.

The purpose of the report was, “to evaluate selected health care facility operations, focusing on patient care quality and the environment of care, and to provide crime awareness briefings.”

The review of the hospital was conducted the week of May 4 this year.

When conducting a review of the environment of care the VA Inspector General’s Office found that the veteran’s hospital did not meet environmental safety requirements, “Eight of 12 patient care areas had soiled and/or damaged wheelchairs.”

The report than recommends, “that the facility clean and/or repair soiled and/or damaged wheelchairs in patient care areas or remove them from service.”

The facility has a target date of August 31, 2015 to solve this issue and responded to the Inspector General writing,

“A sweep was conducted and all damaged wheelchairs were removed. A review has been conducted and new wheelchairs have been ordered. Wheelchairs will be part of Nursing’s annual equipment needs assessment. Education of nursing staff to reinforce the need to replace damaged wheelchairs has been completed. A new wheelchair washer has been installed. A regular cleaning schedule has been established.”

The report also rated the hospital in the worst quintile for efficiency. (RELATED:Obama At Vets Conference Says VA Needs A Lot Of Improvement)