WORCESTER – Saint Vincent Hospital failed to provide the required staff for a severely ill patient in the intensive care unit who was a planned organ donor, according to an investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
In another case, a unit secretary was allegedly forced to care for a critically ill patient in order to meet a required staffing level, despite not having the training to do the job, according to a complaint from nurses that was included in the investigation.
The June report determined Saint Vincent should have had one registered nurse assigned to the patient in the ICU. Instead, each nurse assigned to the patient was simultaneously caring for other patients…