Caruso: West Virginia DHHR to conduct review, work with vendors following 'staff issues' Sharpe Hospital

The agency will conduct an internal review and will meet with all vendors to reiterate hospital policies and standards, according to the statement.

The hospital will transition from phone interviews to virtual or in-person interviews for all contract nursing staff and will initiate a work environment assessment, the statement says.

All direct-access employees, independent contractors and volunteers at health care facilities are required to complete a comprehensive fingerprint-based federal and state background check through WV Clearance for Access: Registry & Employment Screening, according to the statement.

A contract nurse who had been working at Sharpe was arrested for an alleged incident not related to the hospital, according to a previous release from DHHR interim Secretary Dr. Sherri Young.

Young said last week that the nurse had undergone the background check prior to being cleared to work at Sharpe, and the screening revealed no cause for concern.

Caruso reiterated this while talking with state lawmakers during a legislative interim meeting earlier this week.

“We actually brought in an independent ombudsman to come in and take a review of that case and found that there were no findings,” Caruso said. “Everybody goes through a background check. There were no background issues with this individual. That was a nurse that actually was there for a while with no problem whatsoever.”

When a contract staff has (or is suspected to have) committed an abusive or neglectful act, William R. Sharpe, Jr. Hospital immediately notifies the vendor that the individual cannot return to the facility unless the allegations are not substantiated, according to Caruso’s Wednesday statement.

In addition, William R. Sharpe, Jr. Hospital alerts the appropriate authorities, participates in the investigative process, conducts internal investigations, and requests an independent investigation by independent advocates.