Gov. Juan Luis Hospital Chief Executive Doug Koch updated the territorial hospital board Wednesday with the news that the hospital has reduced the number of contract nurses by hiring 17 registered nurses – enough to reduce the number of travelers from 49 last year.
Koch told the board that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted the three-year tri-annual Health Survey in December 2023 and the three-year tri-annual Life Safety Survey in January. He expects the final report soon.
“I had an update call with CMS earlier this week and they expected, within the next two to three weeks we would receive it. And we’re looking forward to receiving that so we can get things corrected,” he said.
Also, during the phone call with CMS, Koch reassured the federal agency that the hospital will confront any issues head-on while providing dialysis for St. Croix patients at the new location, east of Christiansted, the former Caribbean Kidney Center.