WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Finance Committee is seeking information from long-term care hospital operator Select Medical Holdings Corp after a New York Times report raised concerns about patient care, the committee said on Tuesday.
The February 10 article in the newspaper "describes a number of disturbing incidents at Select Medical (long-term care hospitals) that allegedly resulted in patients deaths," Senators Max Baucus and Charles Grassley wrote in a letter to the company.
"The article also suggests that Select Medical has a corporate culture of putting profits before patients," the senators wrote.
Baucus chairs the Senate Finance Committee and Grassley is the panel"s senior Republican.
The senators asked the company to provide information about the number of physicians on staff, policies for addressing emergencies and other matters.
Select Medical said in a statement on its website the company "will cooperate fully and quickly with this inquiry because we are eager to demonstrate that the recent New York Times article that prompted the committee"s questions is inaccurate, misleading and sensationalistic."
The company said it "provides high-quality care to thousands of high-risk and fragile patients each year" and that the Times story included "isolated incidents taken out of context."
Select Medical shares closed 4.92 percent to $8.31 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The senators also sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office asking the congressional watchdog arm to "review various issues related to oversight of" long-term care hospitals.
The committee letters were posted here
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; editing by Andre Grenon)
Health
No comments:
Post a Comment