Problems at Colorado's primary mental hospital so severe that it faces potential loss of Medicare

Officials at Colorado’s primary mental hospital failed to protect a 20-year-old patient who suffered loss of brain function when he attempted to kill himself at the facility nearly three months ago, allowing violations in protocols meant to prevent such tragedies, state regulators determined.

Among the host of problems, state regulators found that a clinical care associate at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo violated requirements for safety checks of patients and their rooms the day of the suicide attempt.

Employees told The Gazette a contract health care worker was fired over the incident, although the state denied requests for termination information.

Another patient found Kersey resident Chase Falk hanging in his room at 2:03 p.m. on July 27 and alerted hospital staff, who rushed in to untie sheets Falk had fashioned as a noose, the regulators found. No heart rate could be discovered. Falk was transported to a Denver-area hospital, where he was in a coma, said his father, Carl Falk.

Read more: https://gazette.com/colorado-watch/problems-at-colorados-primary-mental-hospital-so-severe-that-it-faces-potential-loss-of-medicare/article_f4081afa-2dff-11ec-8f3a-6f962c0dfed3.html
(Colorado Springs Gazette)