Mysterious water leaks in the ceiling of a Mount Pleasant hospital caused staff to scramble to move patients. Hospital inspectors happened to be touring on an official, unannounced visit. The poor timing Aug.
14 did not end up hurting Roper St. Francis Mount Pleasant Hospital, as the surveyors ended up joining the hunt for the leaks and commended the hospital for how it handled the situation, said Dr. Megan Baker, chief operating officer for Roper St.
Francis Healthcare. Patients were moved to other floors so they would not have to put up with the disruption to their rooms, and three were transferred to Roper Hospital downtown, she said. "We know things are going to come up," Baker said.
"It's how you respond to them" that counts. "This, of course, was following Tropical Storm Debby, so there are a lot of unanswered questions," Baker added. Dr.
Megan Baker, chief operating officer for Roper St. Francis Healthcare, speaks at its Mount Pleasant hospital during a ceremony earlier this year. Staff discovered the problem on the third floor just as surveyors showed up early that morning from The Joint Commission, one of the accrediting agencies hospitals are required to have.
The commission does inspections every three years and had given the hospital a window of when they might arrive, between Aug. 1 and December, but the actual date is always a surprise. It might have been an even bigger surprise this year.
"Finding you have a facilities issue within the second hour of your Joint Commission visit, I would say, is a first for us," Baker said. "Our approach to that was to bring them along." In fact, one of the commission's experts actually got up into the ceiling to help inspect the problem and consulted with the hospital's staff on their approach, which was helpful, she said.
Story continues below When the surveyors returned Aug. 15, they commended the hospital staff on how quickly they moved patients and sealed off the floor, Baker said. "They actually commended us on our ability to pivot and relocate our patients," she said.
In a message to staff, the administration praised those who "worked tirelessly overnight" to get patients safely moved. At the end of the two-day visit, the hospital received no deficiencies from the accrediting agency, Baker said. The Joint Commission did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The hospital is still listed as accredited on its website. The third floor at Mount Pleasant will be closed for a short while as the remediation and search for the leak continues, Baker said. "We anticipate this unit being down probably through next week, just to allow us to do all of that work, as well as to conclude the investigation," she said.
The roof is getting an infrared inspection, which takes about a day and a half, and the building itself as well as its heating and cooling system are being examined, Baker said..
