The inspection report also found the nonprofit hospital did not adequately train staff, failed to safely equip a room and used police officers to help give involuntary medication.
Five other Vermont hospitals have been cited this year for issues regarding the treatment of mental health patients, and state inspectors said they had been at Northwestern several months ago to address similar patient safety issues.
“Although [Northwestern] had revised policies and procedures associated with previously identified deficient practices, there was a failure to analyze the effectiveness of training, fully implement an auditing process and communicate to hospital personnel regarding the use of law enforcement in the management of patients presenting with behavioral health symptoms,” state officials wrote in the inspection report.
Regulators again have accepted Northwestern’s plans to correct deficiencies.
“[Northwestern] is fully committed to meeting the [governmental] standards relating to these challenging situations through this plan of correction, and I am proud of the efforts of our staff to provide all patients with exceptional care,” Northwestern CEO Jill Berry Bowen said in a statement.
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