Compliance considerations are a high priority for all institutional and commercial facilities, but the issue is especially critical within health care facilities, given patient safety requirements and the potential for major financial consequences for lack of compliance. One Arkansas hospital offers a prime example of these pressures resulting from equally daunting maintenance demands.
Allegiance Health Management has 30 days to take care of much-needed maintenance and repairs at its Eureka Springs (Ark.) Hospital, according to the Lovely County Citizen. The Eureka Springs Hospital Commission voted recently night to send a letter to Allegiance advising the company to fix structural problems at the hospital within 30 days or face the consequences of violating the terms of the lease between the company and commission.
Commission chairman John House says a recent inspection of the hospital revealed Allegiance has not been upholding its duties to maintain and repair the facility.
Inspectors "came up with a multi-page document that showed quite a few areas in which the building itself has some problems," House says. "Some of those problems are things that are grandfathered in because the building was built in 1927. There are other things that are jeopardizing patient safety."
Dan Hounsell is editor-in-chief of Facility Maintenance Decisions.
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