Healthcare Facility Inspection of the VA Central Alabama Health Care System in Montgomery
Report Information
Summary
This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Healthcare Facility Inspection program report describes the results of a focused evaluation of the care provided at the VA Central Alabama Health Care System in Montgomery.
This evaluation focused on five key content domains:
• Culture
• Environment of care
• Patient safety
• Primary care
• Veteran-centered safety net
The OIG issued 15 recommendations for VA to correct identified deficiencies in three domains:
1. Environment of care
• Detectable warning surfaces
• Training for toxic exposure screenings
• Repeat findings
• Biohazardous material storage
• Clean and safe environment
2. Patient safety
• Communication of test results
• Peer Review Committee attendance
• Sentinel events and institutional disclosures
• Action plan tracking
• Medical emergency roles and responsibilities
• Emergency response policy
• Basic life support certification
3. Primary care
• Patients assigned to primary care teams
Facility leaders install detectable warning surfaces where crosswalks transition onto a vehicle roadway.
Facility leaders ensure clinical staff who perform toxic exposure screenings complete mandatory training.
The Director ensures staff implement processes to prevent repeat environment of care findings related to dusty sprinkler heads.
Facility leaders evaluate all areas where biohazardous materials are located to ensure staff store clean and dirty items separately.
The Director ensures staff keep the environment clean and safe.
Facility leaders ensure their policy aligns with VHA Directive 1088(1) and develop workflows for all services that communicate test results to patients.
The Chief of Staff and Associate Director for Patient Care Services ensure corrective actions address unfavorable trends in communication of test result data.
The Director ensures the Chief of Staff chairs and attends the Peer Review Committee meetings as required by VHA.
The Director ensures patient safety managers identify adverse events as sentinel events when they meet criteria.
Facility leaders evaluate and improve processes to identify adverse events that warrant an institutional disclosure.
The Director implements processes to ensure staff track action plans until they are completed and report to leaders those that are outstanding.
The Director ensures leaders train staff on their roles and responsibilities when responding to a medical emergency, including the location of equipment used for medical emergencies.
The Director ensures leaders revise the emergency response policy based on recertification time frames in VHA Directive 0999(1) or sooner, if warranted.
Facility leaders ensure all applicable staff maintain basic life support certification and take appropriate action for those staff without it.
The Director ensures facility leaders manage primary care teams’ panel sizes to support patients’ access to care.