The Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital has retained an international law firm following a report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr. Kendall Griffith told the governor and 13 members of the 30th Legislature at a meeting Tuesday night on St. Thomas, Government House reported in a news release.
Griffith said the hospital had signed Ropes & Gray, a Boston-based firm with offices in the United States, Asia and Europe. The firm, with more than 1,100 lawyers on its staff, includes among its clients corporations, financial institutions, government agencies, universities and health care organizations.
CMS announced Thursday that it will decertify the St. Croix hospital from participation in the two federal health care programs, threatening an important revenue stream for JFL. The report included a catalog of cases in which the hospital caused harm to patients. (See links below.) The report also highlighted what the inspectors considered administrative problems at the hospital.
Gov. John deJongh Jr. started the meeting by pointing to the potential impact decertification will have on the hospital. While many of the problems highlighted by CMS are directly related to quality of care, policy and procedure, as well as oversight of the hospital’s medical staff and clinicians, the governor said there is also the need for demonstrated governmental support, organizational and structural change, training and additional funding.
“This was an opportunity for the senators to hear directly from Dr. Kendall Griffith about the CMS report, what he agrees with and the portions of the report to which he takes exception," deJongh said. "More importantly, the meeting underscored for everyone the importance of identifying the risks as outlined by CMS and working together to develop a clear path forward to address the issues through a comprehensive corrective action plan that we hope will lead to a reconsideration by CMS of its decision."
DeJongh and members of his senior staff and policy team have been in regular conversations with Griffith, Delegate Donna M. Christensen, Territorial Board Chairwoman and Commissioner Lynn Millin Maduro, Human Services Commissioner Chris Finch, Department of Finance Commissioner Angel Dawson, and Office of Management & Budget Director Debra Gottlieb about the governance and financial challenges facing the JFL Hospital, the release said.
“There was universal agreement that the provision of quality patient care is paramount and that we are prepared to make the decisions that are required in the best interest of the community and health care delivery," the governor said. "The senators were open to suggestions, provided their own observations, voiced their concerns and wanted to ensure that we have a coordinated approach.”
Senators who attended the meeting included Sammuel Sanes, Janette Millin Young, Donald Cole, Alicia “Chucky” Hansen, Tregenza Roach, Clifford Graham, Kenneth Gittens, Myron Jackson, Nereida “Nellie” Rivera-O’Reilly, Clarence Payne, Craig Barshinger and Terrence “Positive” Nelson. Sen. Judi Buckley participated by telephone.
“Our community and especially St. Croix has had to deal with a number of major events over the last several years – the Great Recession, the closing of the oil refinery and now the possible loss of CMS certification at the Luis Hospital,” deJongh said. “In all these instances, we are better than any one of these challenges and, right now, we have to come together and not fall victim to the negative discussions that only serve to hold us down and not advance our collective interests.”
“We will find our way through each of these events, but only if we believe in ourselves and exercise the strength and determination to make the difficult but necessary decisions,” deJongh said.
