Legislative Report 1B -- 2007 Report to the General Assembly
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State of Vermont |
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Report to the 2007 General Assembly
Legislative Report 1B
Title: Status of Ongoing Safety Enhancements
Expenditure of funds for ongoing safety enhancements
at the Vermont State Hospital
2006 Act 147, Sec. 4(j): The sum of $100,000 is appropriated to the Department of Buildings and General Services for the Agency of Human Services for safety enhancements for patients and staff at the Vermont state hospital, to be substantially complete by July 1, 2007. On or before January 15, 2007, the commissioner of buildings and general services shall report to the house and senate committees on institutions regarding implementation of this subsection.
In accordance with 2006 Act 147, Sec. 4(j) the following report is submitted on the use of the $100,000 appropriated to continue implementation of the safety enhancements for patients and staff at the Vermont State Hospital.
A facility safety and security review inspection was performed on February 21, 2006 by a team made up of Gary L. Graham, a Principal with Graham/Meus Architects, Inc. and Carroll A. Ockert, a Life Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives with over 15 years experience as a facility reviewer with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. A report of their findings was issued on April 7, 2006. The report included a number of recommendations to be addressed. The recommendations identified broken into three categories in order of priority, Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW), Patient Management (PM), and Environmental Enhancements (EE). In response, a Contract was executed on June 20, 2006 to implement the safety enhancements identified in the report. The recommendations were incorporated into a spreadsheet to track progress. To date, we have completed all HSW items, the materials for all but one of the PM items are on order, and scheduled for delivery mid-December 2006, and one EE item is unfinished.
A progress inspection was conducted in November for the Department of Justice compliance agreement. An additional item of concern was identified that is in the patient safety category. We will remedy this item as a part of this project as it is a higher priority than the unfinished PM and EE items.
Attached is a copy of the spreadsheet and the work item status. The Department of Buildings and General Services will provide detailed testimony on the work done at the State Hospital.
