DPH has closed investigation into Saint Vincent Hospital stemming from nurses complaints over safety
Photo I Courtesy of UFCW Local 1445
UFCW Local 1445 members picket outside of Saint Vincent Hospital on May 3.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has officially closed its investigation into Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester after reviewing and accepting the hospital’s plan of correction prompted by more than 600 complaints filed by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the union representing Saint Vincent nurses, citing quality of care and staff safety concerns in addition to union contract violations.
“DPH determined the hospital was back in compliance with applicable state and federal requirements,” DPH spokesperson Ann Scales said in an email to WBJ on Monday.
The investigation has been complete for several months.
The DPH conducted onsite investigations into Saint Vincent between Jan. 31 and Feb. 7 after receiving the complaints on Jan. 26, said DPH spokesperson Katheleen Conti in an email to WBJ on Tuesday. The Department provided Saint Vincent with a written statement of one deficiency regarding an insufficient number of cardiac telemetry boxes to appropriately monitor patients on March 5, said Scales.
The hospital responded by providing a plan of correction on March 13, a day after Saint Vincent put out a press release implying its ongoing investigation was complete. The DPH refuted this claim hours later, stating the investigation was still in process. Saint Vincent’s POC was deemed acceptable by the DPH on March 15.
On March 19, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a federal agency, was notified and officially accepted the plan, said Conti.
Three days later on March 21, eight Saint Vincent nurses filed a lawsuit with the Worcester County Superior Court against the hospital’s owner, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, claiming wrongful termination. Also in late March, the National Labor Relations Board issued a formal complaint against Saint Vincent citing nurses’ union violation rights as a consolidation of six cases based on charges filed by the hospital’s nurses between 2022 and 2024.
MNA condemned the DPH determination and the end of its investigation into Saint Vincent.
“We can’t understand how any agency can read report after report of patients being left unattended for hours lying in their own urine and feces, how any agency can read dozens of reports of patients waiting for hours without receiving medications, or treatments to aid their recovery and sign off on such care as being rectified,” David Schildmeier, MNA director of public communications, wrote in an email to WBJ. “The conditions at St. Vincent have not been rectified, and we will continue to raise our voice about these conditions until this corporation is held accountable.”
Saint Vincent did not return WBJ’s request for comment.
Mica Kanner-Mascolo is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the healthcare and diversity, equity, and inclusion industries.
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