Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center receives Immediate Jeopardy Citation

7News has another exclusive report in a series that Washington D.C. reporter Phylicia Ashley has been covering in a series of failures at Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center.
The hospital was intended to bring much-needed medical care to an underserved community. It opened last April, and Cedar Hill has fallen short in almost every measurable way. 7News learned the D.C. Department of Health has slapped the hospital with a citation for dangerous levels of non-compliance.
7News has been uncovering serious issues inside the Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center since shortly after it first opened to the public last spring.
In February, a 7News interview with a former employee exposing staffing and safety issues led to a flood of calls and emails from other Cedar Hill employees wanting to speak up.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Former Cedar Hill employee speaks out about conditions inside DC hospital
A firestorm started inside the hospital.
“Everybody talked about,” said a current employee. The employee is referencing the previous 7News interview with former Cedar Hill E.R. tech Gerzayn Hernandez from February. He revealed the hospital had to stop taking in patients due to safety issues multiple times, including just a month after it opened.
“There were emails going out, you know, not to talk to the media,” said the employee. “A lot of people were happy that he told the truth.”
One of those employees reached out after that, for a sit-down for an interview, as long as we didn’t share their identity, for fear that there could be consequences from the hospital administration.
DC Bureau Reporter Phylicia Ashley: “You mentioned that they gave these warnings and threats essentially to not share what’s going on inside. What made you passionate to still want to?”
Employee: “Because I care and am angry about what I’m seeing happening in the hospital. You have people in and out, and the place is like a revolving door. You have contractor nurses who leave, they don’t come back. Right now, we have X-ray techs. Everybody left. They had to hire a contract company. Nobody can do X-rays. That’s unacceptable.”
The circumstances described by employees are serious and raise significant questions about patient care.
7News obtained this copy of a mandatory surgical operative procedure change we’re told was sent to employees.
It reveals the hospital received something called a citation of immediate jeopardy from the Department of Health. Which is as bad as it sounds.
Dc Bureau Reporter Phylicia Ashley: “Have you ever worked at a hospital that got any immediate jeopardy?”
Employee: “No, I have never worked one like this before. It’s really concerning. It’s really uncomfortable coming into work not knowing if the next patient is going to die, it’s bad, it’s bad, it’s bad, it’s bad.”
The Immediate Jeopardy notice reflects what the Department of Health defines as the highest level of non-compliance. The memo states the Department of Health found deficiencies in surgical scheduling.
Dr. Marilyn McPherson was chief of staff at United Medical Center. Dr. McPherson owns her own medical practice in Northwest D.C. Along with other community doctors, she told 7News she’s been in talks with Cedar Hill leadership on needed improvements.
“A citation of jeopardy says, don’t go,” said Dr. McPherson. “That’s sad because we are they going to go and where can they go?”
D.C. Bureau Reporter Phylicia Ashley: “How often are immediate jeopardy citations given to hospitals? Is it frequently?”
Dr. McPherson: “Well, you know, this is the first. I’ve been in practice 45 years.”
Ambrose Lane is Chairman of the D.C. Health Alliance Network. The largest community-based health and policy advocacy group in D.C.
“It’s failure,” said Lane. “It does represent failure.”
The Department of Health issued the Immediate Jeopardy citation, and according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services standards, it means a healthcare facility’s non-compliance has placed the health and safety of patients at risk for serious injury, harm, impairment, or death.
MORE | DC leaders grill Cedar Hill board member about problems at hospital
The internal memo from Cedar Hill listed four requirements to get the hospital back in compliance.
Case classifications must be accurate.
Escalation must occur without delay.
Documentation must be completed in real time.
All required notifications must be documented.
7News asked Dr. Mc. Pherson what these requirements show is or is not happening inside the hospital.
“What is clear in that memo that the documentationthere are issues,” said McPherson.
“That tells the whole story because we’re talking about George Washington University and Universal Health Services and the type of reputation that was reported that they had in treating patients,” said Lane. “They were supposed to bring that expertise east of the river. When you have something like that, that shows that they missed something.”
“There’s a lot of times I go home and I’m shedding tears because there’s nothing, I can do about it,” said the employee. “I’m just so. I’m so disappointed. You know, but I care. And I’m staying because I care. And I hope that things get better.”
7News reached out to Universal Health Services as well as GW University Hospital multiple times. They were open to speaking to 7News about a positive birth experience, it stated it had at the hospital; but they would not respond to 7News about an interview about the hospital overall or patient safety. 7News also reached out to the Department of Health to ask why it issued this immediate jeopardy, and it would not provide any further details. However, since 7News’ last report, multiple staff members have told 7News that they’ve noticed an increased presence of management on campus, as well as multiple changes in protocol.
After 7News repeatedly pressed for answers, the hospital contacted us and confirmed it did receive an immediate jeopardy citation in February. It claims it made mandatory corrections and ongoing monitoring plans. 7News was also told by a source that the hospital allegedly received the citation due to the death of a young female patient. 7News directly asked the Department of Health about it, and it said it was still investigating the matter.
7News is going to continue following up on this story and pushing to find out what changes are being worked on and what’s going to be done to improve this hospital, which is the only hospital available to communities east of the river for now.