According to Windham, the hospital candle is “encased in a thick glass globe, which is itself encased in a second glass globe, covered by a bronze top that fits over the second globe.” This globe rests in a bronze holder affixed to the chapel wall. There are fire extinguishing sprinkler heads around the candle and the local fire marshal has long approved it.
During a Feb. 21 inspection, Windham recounted, a surveyor from The Joint Commission at Saint Francis Hospital South in Tulsa “expressly asked to go to the chapel to see if there was a living flame.” The surveyor observed to hospital personnel that “other Catholic hospitals had complied and extinguished the living flame at their chapels, substituting it with an electric light.”
Windham objected that the surveyor rated the enclosed flame as a “moderate” threat and cited the hospital for violating the CMS Life Safety Code Requirements. While federal standards do classify chapel candles as “flame-producing equipment,” these are only barred within one foot of a nasal cannula, a device to provide supplemental oxygen. The hospital candle is never near such a device. The relevant codes and standards of the National Fire Protection Association expressly permit sanctuary candles.
The chapel’s candle has never been an issue in previous inspections. Wyndham said that since the citation the hospital system has asked for a waiver four separate times. CMS also permits open flames in kitchen stoves and ovens, gas dryers in the laundry room, flames in gas water heaters, and welding for construction purposes, she noted.
“Saint Francis’ rights are so clearly established that continued violations will result in not just a court order, but personal liability for the individuals involved in the decision,” Windham said.
Late on Wednesday a CMS spokesperson told CNA it is “aware of a safety finding involving a fire risk, made by an independent accrediting organization, issued to a hospital in Oklahoma.”
“CMS is working with the hospital’s accrediting organization to develop options to mitigate the potential fire risk and remove the safety finding.”
Kevin J. Jones is a senior staff writer with Catholic News Agency. He was a recipient of a 2014 Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship.