Worcester Hospital Faulted for Removing Wrong Patient's Kidney

WORCESTER, MA — State and federal health officials are faulting St. Vincent Hospital, after a surgeon there reportedly removed the wrong patient's kidney earlier this year.

The Associated Press reports, "State and federal health investigators say the surgeon in July was supposed to remove a kidney with a tumor from a patient at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, but instead removed a healthy kidney from a different patient with the same name."

According to those authorities, the surgeon failed to follow protocol by not checking the patient's birth date.

The hospital is on notice, and its Medicare/Medicaid agreements could be in jeopardy if it doesn't address the issue, according to the AP.

In a statement shared with Patch, St. Vincent said:

"We are working to implement enhanced safeguards as identified in the CMS survey, including additional verification steps with physicians. This was a deeply unfortunate situation and we will take all steps necessary to prevent it from happening again."

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