The ASC had its license to operate suspended in early May due to violations identified by inspectors from the Connecticut Department of Public Health. Violations included a lack of proper credentialing information, improper cleaning of instruments, failure to hold regular governing board meetings and improper tracking of infections.
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In late May, the ASC’s owner consented to a fine from the health department, a reprimand and two years’ probation on the surgery center, according to earlier reports.
The ASC was also required to hire a consultant to assess operations and recommend changes. It worked with a team from Merritt Healthcare to resolve the deficiencies, according to the WestportNow report.
“Although we have operated the Center with a special focus on patient safety, we had not kept up with the most recent changes in the healthcare regulatory environment and failed to provide detailed documentation of our policies and procedures,” Dr. Singer said in the release. “We had to revise all of our manuals and documentation and checklists and prove that we were consistently monitoring ourselves in order to maintain the highest quality safe environment for outpatient procedures. Our ASC is now at the same level of regulation as the hospitals. It has been a long and arduous task in order to change and upgrade our procedures, but we and our patients are better for it.”
Read the WestportNow report about the Westport surgery center.
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