California Healthline Rounds Up Recent Department of Health Services Citations Against Health Care Facilities
The Department of Health Services last week fined and issued citations to several health care facilities. Summaries appear below.
- Inland Christian Home, Ontario: DHS on Thursday fined the assisted living facility $50,000 and issued it an AA citation related to the death of an 88-year old patient, the Los Angeles Times reports. A state report stated that two nurse assistants performed chest compressions on the patient but did not try to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, after taking over for a nurse at the facility -- who provided mouth-to mouth -- when the nurse called paramedics. Officials for ICS, which provides care for 230 residents, said they planned to appeal (Martin/Wilson, Los Angeles Times, 1/14).
- Coastal Communities Hospital, Santa Ana: A DHS report released Thursday found that a respiratory therapist did not properly replace a tracheotomy tube in a 45-year-old patient, an act that led to the patient's death, the Times reports. The investigation found that the hospital did not have a policy for complex tracheotomy tube changes and that CCH did not adhere to procedures for such changes, according to the Times. DHS also issued an AA citation to CCH. CCH is one of four Orange County facilities Tenet Healthcare plans to sell to Integrated Healthcare Holdings (Gottlieb, Los Angeles Times, 1/14).
- Evergreen Healthcare Centers of Vallejo, Vallejo: DHS fined Evergreen $80,000 and issued "the most severe type of citation under state law" for an incident that allegedly contributed to the death of a 45-year-old patient from dehydration, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. A state report found that the facility had not properly assessed the patient's risk of dehydration and had not administered antibiotics as directed by a physician (Lee, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/14).