Plan to improve troubled Arizona state hospital moves ahead

PHOENIX — A plan to improve services at the embattled Arizona State
Hospital has been approved.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved the plan last week, a
news release states.

The federal agency conducted an inspection in May that found serious issues
with patient safety, including sexual and physical abuse, and with how incidents
were reported.

Three state executives lost their jobs following accusations that severely
mentally ill patients at the state hospital were sexually abused.

The new plan calls for more staff and training.

The hospital has been in trouble before. An inspection in November 2013 found
deficiencies in nursing care, patient rights and the hospital’s oversight board,
leading The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to threaten to pull
funding.