Juan Luis Has Averted CMS Decertification, VI Consortium Can Confirm

The efforts of the newly minted Juan Luis Hospital CEO, Dr. Griffith, and the delegation that descended on Baltimore to meet with officials of the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services last Friday have been successful. The Juan F. Luis Hospital (JFL) will retain its certification, the VI Consortium can confirm.

JFL leadership, Dr. Griffith has received official email communication that decertification has been averted. JFL will be allowed to enter into a systems improvement agreement which will last for 9 months from November 20, 2014. Thank you for your leadership.

In a confidential email sent to the Juan F. Luis leadership and obtained by the VI Consortium, it was made known that Dr. Griffith had received “official email communication” that decertification was averted, and CMS has allowed the hospital to enter into a “systems improvement agreement” that would begin on November 20, 2014.

“JFL leadership, Dr. Griffith has received official email communication that decertification has been averted. JFL will be allowed to enter into a systems agreements which will last for 9 months from November 20, 2014. Thank you for your leadership,” the confidential email reads.

A Systems Improvement Agreement (SIA) is a time-limited contractual arrangement between a Medicare-accredited healthcare organization and CMS. SIAs have been used in nursing homes and organ transplant centers in the past, and recently have been implemented in hospitals.

Entering into an SIA provides more time for a healthcare organization to fix its deficiencies than is typically allotted from a validation or for-cause survey. In some cases, the timeframe has been extended to as long as 19 months. CMS may choose to cancel its pending termination sooner, especially when the hospital is found to be in full compliance with CMS’s requirements outlined in the SIA.

The news of JFL’s successful bid to keep its accredited status comes as much relief to St. Croix residents, and will allow medicare and medicaid services to continue uninterrupted at the hospital. It also prevents ripple effects from affecting the St. Croix community, as insurance companies were threatening to leave, and businesses were deciding not to invest in an island that does not have a certified hospital.