Hospital waited more than a week to report worker’s COVID death, NC officials say
A hospital in Western North Carolina is facing nearly $30,000 in civil penalties after state labor officials said it violated COVID-19 safety protocols and reporting requirements during the pandemic.
The penalties stem from three inspections by the N.C. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division in October and November at Mission Hospital in Asheville, a department spokesperson confirmed in a statement to McClatchy News on March 23.
In addition to failing to properly fit employees for N95 respirators, OSH investigators said the hospital waited to report that one of its workers had been hospitalized with COVID-19 and later died.
The employee was hospitalized Oct. 18 and died Nov. 10, according to the citation. But state officials weren’t notified until after a complaint was filed on Nov. 22.
“We union nurses have been fighting for a safer workplace throughout the pandemic,” Kerri Wilson, a registered nurse in the cardiac step-down unit at Mission Hospital, said in a news release. “Our workplace is safer because we spoke up, we reported safety violations, and we took the time to show OSH investigators what needed to be corrected.”
Wilson is among 1,500 nurses at Mission Hospital who are represented by the National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United.
The union issued a news release after the citations were announced, saying dozens of nurses at Mission Hospital have spoken with state OSH investigators and led them on walk-throughs of the facility since October. They have also publicly protested unsafe working conditions.
Mission Hospital is a 730-bed hospital in Asheville and has the region’s only Level II trauma center and children’s hospital. It’s operated by Mission Health, which is part of HCA Healthcare.
In a statement to McClatchy News on March 23, a spokesperson for Mission Health said “the safety and well-being of our patients and caregivers is our top priority.”
“We know the importance in fit-testing and only paused the practice at the guidance of at the North Carolina Department of Labor and OSHA early in the pandemic,” the hospital said. “Once it was deemed appropriate to reinstate the practice in 2021, Mission Hospital took steps to do so. We value the OSHA tracking and reporting process, however, we are working with them to clarify these recent findings.”
A representative HCA Healthcare did not immediately respond to a request for comment on March 23.
According to 36 pages of documents filed by N.C. OSH, the violations reportedly occurred at Mission Hospital and Mission Hospital Copestone, a mental health facility located on the same campus.
The first inspection was Oct. 1 and resulted in one serious violation and one non-serious violation, a labor department spokesperson said. The combined penalty was $7,275.
Inspection reports show the hospital did not give annual fit tests to employees for a “tight-fitting facepiece respirator” and failed to provide a record of employee fit testing. OSH officials recorded the same infraction during a second inspection on the same day at Copestone, which was also fined $7,275.
A third inspection was performed Nov. 24 in which a spokesperson said Mission Hospital was issued one serious violation and three non-serious violations for a combined penalty of $15,225.
Mission Hospital was accused of the same violations from its previous inspection involving fit tests, the reports show. OSH officials also said the hospital did not report an employee’s COVID-19 hospitalization within 24 hours of management being notified.
That employee died on Nov. 10 from a COVID-19 infection, officials said.
According to the citation, the hospital was required to report a work-related COVID-19 fatality within eight hours of the facility being informed of the death. But state OSH officials weren’t informed about the hospitalization and death until Nov. 22.
The labor department assesses civil penalties by taking into account “the gravity of the violation, the size of the business, the good faith and cooperation of the employer, and the history of previous violations,” a spokesperson said.
She also said they are “in no way designed to make up for loss of life.” All of the money goes to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund, which is given to the public school system.
Mission Hospital has 15 days after receiving the citations to request a conference with labor department officials, contest the penalties or pay them.
This story was originally published March 23, 2022 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Hospital waited more than a week to report worker’s COVID death, NC officials say."
