Federal inspectors say problems discovered at Exeter Hospital after a hepatitis C outbreak are serious enough to limit the hospital's capacity to provide adequate care.
The hospital has been working to respond to infection control issues and other deficiencies pointed out by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in July. But the government says the problems remain, and it plans to terminate the hospital's Medicare funding Dec. 28.
Hospital officials say they are confident they can correct the problems before then and have already made progress.
The inspection was trigged by the case of David Kwiatkowski, a former cardiac lab worker who is accused of stealing drugs and replacing them with tainted syringes. Thirty-two patients have been diagnosed with the same strain of hepatitis C he carries.