Colorado Mental Health Institute Pueblo continues to struggle with staffing more than a month after CMS said the 449-bed behavioral health hospital could potentially lose Medicare funding if the issues weren't adequately addressed, reports The Pueblo Chieftain.
The news comes after the hospital failed a June 5 inspection by state officials. At the time of the inspection, CMHIP had nearly 100 vacancies among the 723 direct care positions, a shortage that had apparently existed for months beforehand, according to the report.
This sparked patient and staff safety concerns, and federal regulators threatened to end the hospital's Medicare contract after determining the facility posed "immediate and serious threat to the health and safety" of its patients. The hospital made adjustments following the state inspection, such as launching a recruitment campaign and emergency personnel plan, and was notified by CMS late last month it would no longer lose its Medicare funding, reports The Pueblo Chieftain
But this week the Colorado Department of Human Services said CMHIP still has more than 80 direct care vacancies, the report states.
Employees told The Pueblo Chieftain CMHIP is retraining and offering overtime pay to existing staff, such as correctional guards, to serve in direct-care jobs. They also claim staff is overworked.
Colorado Sen. Leroy Garcia, D-Pueblo, said the hospital's acting superintendent, Kim Nordstrom, is doing her best to fix the staffing problem. Former Superintendent Ron Hale resigned days after the failed inspection.