CALIFORNIA PENALIZES HOSPITALS STATEWIDE
The California Department of Public Health has recently issued fines and penalties against nine California hospitals. The fines, totaling $549,555, arose from 10 reports of negligence occurring from 2014 to 2017.
The hospitals fined include: Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara; Palmdale Regional Medical Center in Palmdale; Doctors Medical Center in Modesto; Methodist Hospital of Sacramento in Sacramento; Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs; California Pacific Medical Center – Davies Campus Hospital in San Francisco; Regional Medical Center in San Jose; UC San Diego Health Hillcrest – Hillcrest Medical Center in San Diego; and Riverside Community Hospital in Riverside.
Riverside Community Hospital received the smallest of this batch of fines at $31,500, while Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital received the heftiest at $100,000. The event resulting in the fine to Riverside Community Hospital arose from a medication error in which an RN prepared and administered the wrong medication to a patient prior to a procedure, causing him to sustain cardiac arrest, requiring intubation, numerous life sustaining medications, and four days of critical care monitoring. This was Riverside Community Hospital’s second Immediate Jeopardy administrative penalty.
Some of the penalized facilities are no strangers to Department of Public Health investigations. This was Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital’s third Immediate Jeopardy administrative penalty, and it arose from the hospital’s failure to ensure the health and safety of a suicidal patient when it did not follow established policies and procedures regarding the safety of a patient. This was the fifth Immediate Jeopardy administrative penalty for Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, and the seventh for UC San Diego Health Hillcrest – Hillcrest Medical Center in San Diego.
If you or someone you love has suffered harm as a result of hospital or doctor negligence, it is important to speak with an experienced medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible.
