Care crisis
Crownpoint clinic closed temporarily

By Natasha Kaye Johnson
Diné Bureau

CROWNPOINT — Patients of the Crownpoint Health Care Facility will need some patience for the next few weeks.

They will be driving to either Gallup or Farmington for their health care needs.

Wednesday afternoon, the Navajo Area Indian Health Service temporarily closed both the emergency room and announced limitations on both obstetric and inpatient services of the Crownpoint facility.

Navajo Area IHS made the decision after inspectors with the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services found that the facility did not meet standards in accordance with the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act. After reviewing the Crownpoint laboratory program, CMS put limitations on types of testing that can be performed at the facility.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regulate all laboratory testing performed on humans in accordance with the act. The objective of the CLIA program is to ensure quality laboratory testing, and covers about 189,000 laboratories in the United States.

Douglas Peter, M.D. and Chief Medical Officer for Navajo Area IHS, stated in a news release that there are corrective action plans in place that will bring the hospital back to meeting the requirements.

"The changes we will be making in laboratory testing practices at the Crownpoint Hospital during the next few weeks will meet the requirements of CMS," Peter said in the news release.

The specific reasons for the temporary closure were not released, and officials with Navajo Area IHS and Crownpoint Service Unit did not return calls for additional information as of press time on Wednesday.

Officials with the CMS will be reviewing the hospital laboratories in approximately 90 days. No specific date has been set as to when the emergency room and inpatient services will be reopened, but the facility plans to bring in alternative laboratory service capability that will allow them to reopen emergency care and provide full inpatient services. Peter anticipates that services will be fully reinstated in approximately two weeks or sooner.

The facility serves a population of 20,000 Navajo people and has a 32-bed hospital. The facility's daily inpatient load is nine; daily outpatient visits are 151; annual OB cases average 275, and about 5,500 emergency-care cases are seen throughout the year.