Nine months of inspections at Riddle Hospital: March to November 2024
Riddle was cited for failing to properly monitor a patient's vital signs.
Riddle Hospital was cited by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for failing to properly monitor a patient’s vital signs in April.
The incident was one of two times inspectors visited to investigate potential safety problems at the Media hospital, which is owned by Main Line Health.
Here’s a look at the publicly available details:
May 17: Inspectors cited the hospital for failing to check full vital signs every four hours for a patient in the telemetry unit. The hospital requires staff to document patients’ heart rate, respirations, pulse oximetry, temperature and blood pressure every four hours. The hospital retrained staff on vital signs monitoring and protocol for when patient cases are handed off at shift changes.
Oct. 23: Inspectors followed up on the May complaint and found the hospital was in compliance.
Pennsylvania Department of Health routinely inspects hospitals to ensure the facility is safe for patients and that staff are following all safety protocols. Inspectors may also visit when a hospital staff member or patient files a complaint.
Not all safety violations spark an on-site investigation from inspectors. Hospitals are required to self-report the most serious safety violations and often work directly with the state to address them. Complaint details are not made public when inspectors determine it was unfounded.
The Inquirer tracks publicly available hospital reports related to a complaint, special monitoring, and general safety inspections. The Inquirer does not track inspections for new equipment or occupancy surveys, unless problems are identified.
Inspection reports are publicly available online and are released 40 days after the report is completed.
The Inquirer is publishing roundups of state inspection reports for Pa. hospitals in our coverage area.
