Pregnant woman dies after hospital visit
Regulators: South Side facility failed to properly triage
A pregnant woman died after Roseland Community Hospital failed to triage her upon arrival and conduct a medical screening exam, the state health department found in a recent investigation.
The woman, who was 30 weeks pregnant, died at the South Side hospital in May after complaining of abdominal pain, dehydration and general malaise after she arrived at the hospital by ambulance. Her triage note was marked 2:54 p.m. — more than three hours after she arrived.
The Illinois Department of Public Health found Roseland to be out of compliance on the requirement that hospitals meet the emergency needs of patients “in accordance with acceptable standards of practice.”
The state report did not name the woman who died. But the Cook County medical examiner’s office said a 31-year-old Black woman named Lolita Davis, of Chicago, died May 15 at Roseland of a COVID-19 infection with pregnancy as a contributing factor. Former Roseland hospital board member Theresa Siaw confirmed that Davis was the woman described in the state report.
According to the report, hospital leaders have since updated Roseland’s medical screening exam and triage policy, provided training to all emergency department nurses on the new policy and now have triage nurses rounding in the emergency department lobby every 30 minutes to make sure patients are evaluated quickly, among other actions.
Health department spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said in an email Thursday that state officials were inspecting Roseland to make sure it was following the correction plan. If the hospital was still not in compliance with state and federal requirements, she said, the department would “continue to cite the facility and require action to correct the deficiencies.”
She said Thursday that
Roseland could face federal decertification and license revocation if the problems were not corrected.
In a statement Friday, the hospital said the state health department had visited the facility on Monday and Tuesday for a “focused re-survey” and that the federal government had then removed an “immediate jeopardy” label from the hospital. The label had indicated noncompliance with requirements that placed patients’ health and safety at risk.
“We deeply mourn the loss of all patients who have been taken from us by COVID-19,” the statement said. “This virus is diabolical and disproportionately impacts those with co-morbidities.”
Siaw, the former board member, said she reported the incident involving Davis to the Illinois Department of Public Health after the hospital’s board failed to take the situation, along with other allegations about COVID-19 testing and precautions, seriously enough.
“I felt like my hands were tied,” said Siaw, who owns a medical student training company. Siaw said she and her students volunteered in the hospital during April and May.
The Roseland hospital board voted to fire Siaw from the board after she made “numerous wholly unsubstantiated charges” against Roseland and after she “attempted to individually capitalize upon your (former) Board position,” according to a June 8 letter to Siaw from the hospital’s board chair that Siaw provided to the Tribune.
In an interview Thursday, Siaw said she did not attempt to capitalize upon her position.
Other issues uncovered in connection with the state’s investigation at Roseland included a nurse telling a patient in a nonprivate hallway, on June 2, that the patient was COVID-19 positive, despite patient privacy rights.
The hospital also failed to ensure that contracted employees were monitored and tracked for exposure to COVID-19 and failed to report all patients with COVID-19-positive tests to local health authorities, according to the investigation.
Investigators also observed a housekeeper at the hospital entering and exiting the rooms of COVID-19positive patients with the same gloves and gown, and wearing that same PPE throughout the intensive care unit. Investigators also saw a certified nursing assistant check the blood glucose of a patient and then return the machine to the docking station without disinfecting it.
Following those incidents, the hospital changed its process for tracking workers with COVID-19, and provided training to all clinical staff on proper equipment disinfection and to housekeeping staff on infection control, among other moves, according to the state’s report.
The hospital said in its statement Friday that “zero infection control deficiencies” were noted after the state’s focused re-survey Monday and Tuesday.
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the challenges faced by pregnant hospital patients, especially Black and Latina women. It also has taken a significant toll on the staff and resources at Roseland, the Tribune reported in April.