Florida health officials have temporarily shuttered the Fort Myers Endoscopy Center, requiring the facility to come up with an action plan to address 19 violations found during a recent inspection before it can resume treating patients.

Mislabeled syringes, expired medications, poorly trained staff and unmaintained equipment are just some of the state and federal safety violations health inspectors discovered during a Jan. 19 site visit. Inspectors also found that there was no circulating nurse on duty during 6 procedures and crucial medical equipment like cardiac monitors and defibrillators hadn't been inspected since October 2008.

The list of violations and the emergency moratorium on procedures were issued on Jan. 21, at which point the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration gave the center 10 days to submit a corrective action plan. A spokeswoman for the agency says the facility has submitted a plan for dealing with the state regulatory infractions, but not the federal violations. The center's nursing director, Beverly Marsland, told the Fort Myers News-Press that they submitted a corrective plan to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Feb. 4.

"We've been working on it and just going down the checklist and taking care of all the paperwork that they need," says Ms. Marsland, adding that the facility plans "to get back to seeing patients at the center as soon as possible." The center has until Feb. 13 to comply or risk losing its Medicare certification and its state license.

Irene Tsikitas