Hospital's officials voice optimism With funding on the line, Provident awaits inspection results

After claiming to have fixed problems that inspectors said had putpatients "at risk for serious harm or death," Provident Hospitalofficials now say they don't expect to have their federal fundingyanked.

Provident officials said Friday the hospital fared well in recentinspections by a group that accredits hospitals and by Illinoispublic health surveyors, who earlier this year issued scathingreports that cited several "significant" health code violations atthe Cook County-owned facility. Those reports, obtained by theChicago Sun-Times, revealed that patients died after being leftunattended, employees were lax about infection control, drugs weren'tproperly stored and a …