State Regulators Levy $650K in Fines Against 12 Calif. Hospitals
On Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health announced that it has fined 12 hospitals for failing to comply with state licensing requirements because of incidents that caused -- or were likely to cause -- serious patient injury or death, the Sacramento Business Journal reports (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 9/7).
Hospitals have 10 days to appeal the fines, which range from $50,000 to $75,000, CDPH spokesperson Al Lundeen said (AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 9/7).
Most of the errors involved surgical tools left inside patients after operations or medication administration mistakes (Gorman, Los Angeles Times, 9/8).
Background
Under a 2006 state law, hospitals must notify state regulators of all significant patient injuries.
For incidents occurring prior to 2009, the state issued $25,000 fines for each violation.
Starting in January 2009, sanctions increased to $50,000 for a hospital's first violation, $75,000 for its second and $100,000 for its third and subsequent violations (California Healthline, 6/3).
Pam Dickfoss -- acting deputy director of CDPH's Center for Health Care Quality -- said that since 2007, the department has issued 198 penalties totaling $4.6 million against 124 hospitals (Los Angeles Times, 9/8).
Latest Penalties
The 12 hospitals targeted in the latest round of penalties are:
- Alameda Hospital, which received one $50,000 fine;
- Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, which received one $50,000 fine;
- California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, which received one $50,000 fine;
- Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, which received one $75,000 fine;
- Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, which received one $75,000 fine;
- Kaiser Foundation Hospital & Rehabilitation Center in Vallejo, which received one $50,000 fine;
- Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center, which received one $50,000 fine;
- Riverside Community Hospital, which received one $50,000 fine;
- Stanislaus Surgical Hospital in Modesto, which received one $50,000 fine;
- Sutter Delta Medical Center in Antioch, which received one $50,000 fine;
- Torrance Memorial Medical Center, which received one $50,000 fine; and
- UCSF Medical Center, which received one $50,000 fine (Payers & Providers, 9/8).
Dickfoss said state officials are working with the hospitals to prevent similar errors in the future. She said, "These penalties have raised awareness in the health care industry," adding, "It is our expectation that these incidents will decrease over time" (Los Angeles Times, 9/8).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.