The private medical centre where Joan Rivers had her last procedure before she died is having it's accreditation withdrawn after failing to rectify certain deficiencies found after a probe in to the facility was launched following the tragic death of the popular TV host in September last year.
A federal agency has claimed that Yorkville Endoscopy in Manhattan will no longer receive funding from Medicare and Medicaid because of their continued failure to comply with requirements for the management of surgical and other services after they didn't meet a deadline to correct the issues.
Concerns raised included failure to identify deteriorating vital signs and provide timely intervention. It is also claimed that Yorkville - which faced allegations of violating Joan's right to privacy after a member of staff allegedly took pictures of her on their phone while she was sedated - made medical records of patients vulnerable to exposure when they were left in view and that they failed to properly follow-up several cases where patients were discharged after receiving anasthesia.
Joan died following complications with her procedure last September (WENN)
The New York State Department Of Health had investigators attend the facility for three days in December to make the final decision - which also discovered lapses in quality assessment and performance improvement. CMS then wrote a letter to inform Yorkville that their funding would be withdrawn as of January 31.
Whilst negligence was not alleged in the death of Joan there were concerns about anaesthesia used during her treatment at the centre. Joan died on September 4 at Mount Sinai Hospital at the age of 81, following her August 28 visit to Yorkville Endoscopy. She suffered a cardiac arrest during the investigative procedure to discover why her throat was so hoarse.
