David Culberson, the former chief executive officer of San Joaquin General Hospital in California, took over the interim administrator post on Monday.
Updating results
The citations ranged from inadequate staffing, to improper infection control, to neglect and sexual, verbal and physical abuse between patients.
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"Frankly I don't think that I have ever seen a more incompetent and pathetic performance," Rep. John Fitzpatrick said during the hearing.
Lawmakers and the state health department are at odds over how a proposal to fix a blunder at the state hospital may play out.
The prison has anchored Deer Lodge for more than 150 years, about 20 years longer than Montana's statehood.
"Without our organization having access to the records, the only oversight of the facility is internal."
A bill introduced Friday is perhaps the most significant policy bill aimed at resolving issues at the embattled Montana State Hospital.
Legislation to end the admission of dementia patients at the state hospital is scheduled for a Jan. 13 hearing.
The bill mandates an increase to state employees’ base salaries for each of the next two fiscal years of $1.50 or 4%, whichever is higher.
The state hospital discharges some patients to homeless shelters, even when there's no beds available, according to the report.
Gianforte discussed the $14.4 billion two-year budget at the 101st annual meeting of the Montana Taxpayers Association.
DPHHS has announced donation boxes have been set up at various locations across the state to receive holiday gifts to benefit Montana State Hospital patients.
Bringing the traveling staff contracts under one document could bring "substantial savings to the state," the department director said Tuesday.
The facility's "inadvertent" employment of Larissa Mack, a former psychiatric technician who spent five years at the facility, ultimately cost the Montana State Hospital nearly $90,000.
The future of the state-run psychiatric hospital remains unclear, the state's top health official said Friday, although an assessment may provide clarity in the coming months.
The employee's exclusion to work at in a health care setting is a new dimension in the staffing issues that have plagued the Montana State Hospital.
A spokesperson for DPHHS said Friday the survey results provide specific objectives to address moving forward.
Alvarez & Marsal secured a $2.2 million contract in April to stabilize and manage health care facilities run by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.
"We can do better, we have the money to do better, we have the will to do better," one lawmaker told a state health official. "You're in the position to do better."
A Montana State Hospital patient has been charged with two felonies for an alleged attack that left a woman with multiple brain bleeds and facial contusions.
Carter Anderson, inspector general at the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, will serve as the interim administrator at Montana State Hospital.
Earlier this year, an investigation into preventable incidents at the Montana State Hospital resulted in an immediate jeopardy citation. Weeks…
"They're so desperate to get you working that they skip training," one employee said.
The loss in reimbursements will result in a reduction about $7 million annually, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services said Monday.
The letter does not say how much money the state hospital will no longer receive once the federal government stops payment for services provided to Medicare and Medicaid patients.