Healthcare Inspection – Follow-up Review of the Pause in Providing Inpatient Care VA Northern Indiana Healthcare System, Fort Wayne, Indiana

OIG conducted an oversight review to follow up on recommendations OIG made in the published report, Healthcare Inspections-Follow-Up Review of the Pause in Providing Inpatient Care, VA Northern Indiana Healthcare System, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Report No. 13-00670-262, issued on August 28, 2014. The purpose of the review was to evaluate the progress VA Northern Indiana Healthcare System’s Fort Wayne campus (facility) had made in implementing the action plan outlined in response to the 2014 report. On October 22, 2014, the facility reopened the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). During our onsite visit in April 2015, we found that the facility continued to support 16 medical beds with telemetry capability and 4 ICU beds. We determined that Veterans Integrated Service Network 11 and facility leadership had completed actions to reopen the ICU and taken actions to actively recruit and hire staff to fill leadership and qualified clinical positions. We also determined that nursing leadership assessed the utilization of the nursing staff to systematically plan assignments. In summary, we found the Veterans Integrated Service Network and facility leadership exercised oversight and implementation of corrective actions to resolve the conditions identified in the 2014 report. The facility is now admitting patients to the acute medical unit and the ICU. We made no further recommendations.