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| Kaiser Permanente registered nurse Esther Sagun joins fellow nurses and healthcare professionals in protesting recent staff reductions outside Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center in Harbor City December 11. (Photo and caption originally published on Los Angeles Times Blog L.A. Now) |
This month has been a rough one for
Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center in Harbor City where nurses and
healthcare professionals protested earlier this month for recent staff
reductions, reported the Los Angeles Times. Now the hospital is under fire again. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued 12 penalties today to California hospitals along
with fines totaling $785,000 after investigations found the facilities’
noncompliance with licensing requirements caused, or was likely to cause,
serious injury or death to patients.
Harbor City’s Kaiser failed to
ensure the health and safety of a patient when it did not follow established
policies and procedures for safe distribution and administration of medication.
The penalty is $50,000. This is the hospital’s first administrative penalty.
The following hospitals also received penalties:
1.
Kaiser
Foundation Hospital - Oakland/ Richmond, Oakland, Alameda County: The hospital failed to ensure the
health and safety of a patient when it did not follow manufacturer’s
instructions for the use of a particular medical device. The penalty is
$100,000. This is the hospital’s third administrative penalty.
2.
Kaiser
Foundation Hospital - San Diego, San Diego, San Diego County: The hospital failed to ensure the
health and safety of a patient when it did not follow established surgical
policies and procedures. The penalty is $75,000. This is the hospital’s second
administrative penalty.
3.
Kaiser
Foundation Hospital - San Rafael, San Rafael, Marin County: The hospital failed to ensure the
health and safety of a patient when it did not follow surgical policies and
procedures. The penalty is $50,000. This is the hospital’s first administrative
penalty.
4.
Kaweah
Delta Medical Center, Visalia, Tulare County: The hospital failed to ensure the
health and safety of a patient when it did not follow established maternity
care policies and procedures. The penalty is
$50,000. This is the hospital’s first administrative penalty.
5.
Kaweah
Delta Medical Center, Visalia, Tulare County: The hospital failed to ensure the
health and safety of a patient when it did not follow established policies and
procedures related to patient assessment. The penalty is $75,000. This is the
hospital’s second administrative penalty.
6.
Methodist
Hospital of Southern California, Arcadia, Los Angeles County: The hospital failed to ensure
the health and safety of a patient when it did not follow surgical policies and
procedures. This resulted in a patient having to undergo a second surgery to
remove a retained foreign object. The penalty is $50,000. This is the
hospital’s first administrative penalty.
7.
Mission
Hospital Regional Medical Center, Mission Viejo, Orange County: The hospital failed to ensure the
health and safety of a patient when it did not follow surgical policies and
procedures. This resulted in a patient having to undergo a second surgery to
remove a retained foreign object. The penalty is $100,000. This is the
hospital’s fifth administrative penalty.
8.
Mission
Hospital Regional Medical Center, Mission Viejo, Orange County: The hospital failed to ensure the
health and safety of a patient when it did not follow surgical policies and
procedures. This resulted in the patient undergoing a second surgery. The
penalty is $100,000. This is the hospital’s sixth administrative penalty.
9.
Orange
Coast Memorial Medical Center, Fountain Valley, Orange County: The hospital failed to ensure the
health and safety of a patient when it did not follow surgical policies and
procedures. This resulted in a patient having to undergo a second surgery to
remove a retained foreign object. The penalty is $50,000. This is the
hospital’s first administrative penalty.
10.
Sutter
Coast Hospital, Crescent City, Del Norte County: The hospital failed to ensure the
health and safety of a patient when it did not develop, maintain and implement
a fire prevention policy and procedure. The penalty is $10,000. This is the
hospital’s first administrative penalty.
11.
UCSF
Medical Center, San Francisco, San Francisco County: The hospital failed to ensure the
health and safety of a patient when it did not follow established policies and
procedures for safe distribution and administration of medication. The penalty
is $75,000. This is the hospital’s sixth administrative penalty.
Administrative penalties are issued under authority
granted by Health and Safety Code section 1280.1. Incidents that occurred prior
to 2009 carry a fine of $25,000. New legislation took effect January 1, 2009,
that increased fines for incidents that occurred in 2009 or later. Under the
new provisions, an administrative penalty carries a fine of $50,000 for the
first violation, $75,000 for the second, and $100,000 for the third or
subsequent violation by the licensee. Incidents that occurred prior to 2009 are
not counted when determining the fine amounts. CDPH also has the authority to
reduce the amount of a penalty issued to a rural hospital.
When hospitals receive their survey findings, they are
required to provide CDPH with a plan of correction to prevent future incidents.
Hospitals can appeal an administrative penalty by requesting a hearing within
ten calendar days of notification. If a hearing is requested and the penalty
upheld following an appeal, the penalties must be paid.
All hospitals in California are required to be in
compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations governing
general acute care hospitals, acute psychiatric hospitals, and special
hospitals. The hospitals are required to comply with these standards to ensure
quality of care.
Information provided by a CDPH press release.
