Sudden Dialysis Center Closure Condemned as ‘Patient Abandonment,’ Violation of CMS Rules

Caribbean Kidney Center’s abrupt July 1 closure left patients scrambling and unannounced at SRMC’s doors, prompting accusations of patient abandonment, ethical violations, and regulatory noncompliance during a critical legislative budget hearing.

No words were minced when the leadership of the Caribbean Kidney Center appeared before the Committee on Health, Hospitals, and Human Services to defend the abrupt cessation of its life-saving services on St. Thomas. 

Tina Commissiong, chief executive officer at the Schneider Regional Medical Center, said that the actions taken by CKC’s leadership in the first week of July are tantamount to “patient abandonment.” In an impassioned testimony before the committee on Monday, Ms. Commissiong explained that “on July 1 at 3:47 p.m., SRMC received an email from Doctor [Walter H.] Gardiner indicating that CKC would cease operations effective 5:00 p.m. that same day.”

SRMC, therefore, received “less than two hours' notice and [offered] no plan for patient transition.” She told the committee that dialysis patients began turning up at SRMC at 4:30 a.m. on July 2nd. “Many of these patients were unannounced and the paper medical records they carried with them were incomplete,” Ms. Commissiong stated. SRMC’s nursing officer, Delphine Olivacce, also explained that typical transfer procedures were not followed, leaving SRMC without information on other comorbidities that the dialysis patients may be living with.

Improper communication and coordination on CKC’s part, she said, “placed patients at risk and threatened to create operational instability at our facility.” It was Ms. Commissiong’s testimony that “these actions constitute violations of the CMS conditions for coverage for end-stage renal disease facilities.” She further accused CKC of violating “key provisions in the Virgin Islands rules and regulations, as well as the local certificate of need program rules.” 




READ MORE: