HOUSTON – St. Joseph Medical Center is under fire from the Department of Health and Human Services to fix safety issues following a shooting inside the hospital over the summer.
Thursday, the health organization sent a letter to the hospital's CEO, in part it reads:
"We notified you on October 15, 2015, that the date of your project to termination from the Medicare program was extended to October 30, 2015. We are now extending the termination date to November 13, 2015, to allow time for a review of the October 15, 2015, survey reports."
Several months ago an unarmed patient was out of control and started throwing furniture and tables and ended up being shot by an off-duty officer.
Officials say because others were put in harm's way, things need to change and if that does not happen, the hospital is in danger of losing its Medicare and Medicaid funding all together.
St. Joseph's sent us this statement:
"Our hospital is committed to the highest standards of ethics and compliance, including compliance with all Medicare conditions of participation and state licensing requirements and we deeply regret the incident that occurred earlier this summer."