Public Health Department Fines Seven Hospitals a Total of $775K
On Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health fined seven California hospitals a total of $775,000 for 10 violations that endangered patients' health or led to their deaths, Payers & Providers reports.
Details of Violations
The fines were imposed for errors that occurred at the hospitals in 2011.
Some of the violations included:
- Leaving surgical objects inside of patients after operations (Shinkman, Payers & Providers, 2/7);
- Inappropriately touching a female patient who was under anesthesia (Bailey, "KPCC News," KPCC, 2/6); and
- Failing to treat a patient for nine minutes after he went into cardiac arrest (Kleffman [1], San Jose Mercury News, 2/6).
Details of Fines
The fines levied by DPH include:
- $50,000 for Adventist Medical Center in Hanford;
- $50,000 for Memorial Medical Center in Modesto;
- $50,000 for Placentia Linda Hospital;
- $75,000 for Fresno Surgical Hospital;
- $75,000 for a second violation at Memorial Medical Center;
- $75,000 for St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco (Kleffman [2], San Jose Mercury News, 2/6);
- $100,000 for Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose;
- $100,000 for a second violation at St. Mary's Medical Center;
- $100,000 for UC-San Francisco Medical Center; and
- $100,000 for a second violation at UCSF Medical Center (DPH release, 2/6).