Hospital’s Infant Death Rate Spurs Federal Investigation
A hospital whose infant mortality rate from infant open heart surgery is three times higher than the national average is the subject of a federal investigation, according to CNN.
St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach Florida keeps its data confidential but CNN filed a freedom of information request and continued its investigation. According to the report, St. Mary’s performed 48 open heart surgeries on children and babies from 2011 to 2013. From the beginning of the pediatric open heart surgery program at St. Mary’s in December 2011 until the present, at least nine children have died and one was left paralyzed, CNN reported.
In 2014, the state’s Department of Health intervened and recommended the hospital stop performing infant heart surgery on those younger than six months old. The hospital ignored the recommendation and another child died after heart surgery.
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