The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has extended the Juan F. Luis Memorial Hospital’s system improvement agreement through Jan. 30 while it completes its report of the St. Croix hospital.
JFL announced the extension in a news release this week.
According to the report, CMS said the extension will allow adequate time for completion of the necessary administrative issue following its recent survey.
CMS is the agency which certifies medical facilities throughout the U.S. to participate in the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs. In September 2014, CMS announced it was decertifying JFL from participating in the two federal health programs, which would mean the financially beleaguered hospital would suffer a significant revenue cut, threatening its survival.
The hospital won a reprieve after hospital administrators made an 11th-hour plea, presenting a system improvement plan to resolve the long list of issues. In October 2014, CMS said it would inspect the hospital in late summer, but in August extended the deadline.
A CMS survey team visited the hospital Dec. 7 through 11. The survey included record and document reviews, interviews and observation. The six-member delegation looked at JFL’s improvements, and the efforts the JFL team put into achieving and sustaining compliance.