Chicago psychiatric hospital fails to protect suicidal patients

One of Chicago's largest psychiatric hospitals is not adequately protecting suicidal patients from harming themselves, according to a federal audit.

The CMS inspected Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital this summer and determined it failed to ensure patients were safe from ligature risks. The hospital has numerous wall-mounted telephones with metal cords, and patients can easily access the phones through unlocked doors, according to a report released to Modern Healthcare Tuesday by the CMS.

"This failure potentially put all 54 patients on suicide precautions, at risk for serious harm," the report said.

The CMS discovered the issues during its initial audit in July and gave the hospital several weeks to ameliorate the issues. But auditors still found issues when they returned in August.

"A hospital must protect and promote each patient's rights," auditors said in the report. "This condition is not met as evidenced by document review, observation and interviews."

Despite the safety risks, auditors found no evidence that a patient had actually hung themselves.

The CMS plans to terminate the hospital's ability to bill Medicare on Sept. 28. A spokesperson for Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital did not return a request for comment.

Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital is owned by Signature Healthcare Services, one of the largest privately held psychiatric hospital companies in the country with hospitals in Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada and Texas.