Combined Assessment Program Review of the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

The purpose of the review was to evaluate selected operations, focusing on patient care administration and quality management (QM). During the review, OIG provided crime awareness briefings to 186 employees. This review focused on eight operational activities. The facility complied with selected standards in the following four activities: (1) enteral nutrition safety, (2) management of workplace violence, (3) medication management, and (4) physician credentialing and privileging. The facility’s reported accomplishments were the institution of a daily suicide prevention meeting and the development of an automated policy tracking system to ensure timely completion of new facility policies. OIG made recommendations for improvement in the following four activities: Environment of care; Registered nurse competencies; QM; and Coordination of care.