California fines 18 hospitals for shoddy care

[okarol]

California fines 18 hospitals for shoddy care

By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER, Associated Press Writer Tue Aug 19, 1:10 PM ET

LOS ANGELES - Eighteen hospitals in California were fined for state health code violations in which patients received shoddy care that in some cases led to deaths.

Violations included an improperly inserted catheter, a ventilator that wasn't turned on and surgical tools left inside patients after operations.

The fines made public Monday stem from investigations by the California Department of Public Health.

The hospitals were fined $25,000 for each violation — the latest of dozens of penalties the state has issued in recent years to more than 40 hospitals.

"The number of penalties will decrease and the quality of care will dramatically improve as hospitals take action to improve," said Kathleen Billingsley, director of the health department's Center for Healthcare Quality. "The entire intent of these fines is to improve the overall quality of care in California."

The report detailed a death at a La Mesa hospital in which a worker failed to turn on a ventilator for a patient who was being transferred. Another patient in Los Alamitos died after falling from a wheelchair with no seat belt on, and a Santa Ana hospital lost a patient from a medication overdose.

At Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo, a registered nurse improperly inserted a catheter into a patient's neck vein on Sept. 1, and the patient died as a result of an air bubble from the tube. The report found the nurse had not completed a required anatomy class or the hospital's training on protocol.

Defending himself in the report, the unidentified male nurse told investigators, "I am the pro of the hospital. The other nurses call me to put in IVs that they cannot get in."

A message seeking comment from the medical center was not returned Monday.

In other cases, patients had surgical instruments or sponges left inside their bodies during surgery, requiring a second surgery to retrieve the items. The report also found some patients experienced surgical awareness during their procedures due to improper anesthesia.

The state has issued 61 such penalties to 42 hospitals, Billingsley said.

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On the Net:

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/facilities/Pages/Counties.aspx

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080819/ap_on_re_us/hospital_fines;_ylt=Ahc6jWCbx8yezx4nnrM49lwDW7oF

[Chris]

The one thing I feared most about my transplant was having something left inside me and I still fear that. I can see this happening at the hospitals I have been too especially with the medications. One thing I feel though is that the $25,000 fine is not enough. That is a slap on the wrist to me if patients are dying due to neglegence. When I am transported it is usually done by someone who is not medically trained and really doesn't care about his job, so seeing that something is not turned on is no suprise to me.

Then there is the nurse: Defending himself in the report, the unidentified male nurse told investigators, "I am the pro of the hospital. The other nurses call me to put in IVs that they cannot get in."

Get off your high horse and admit you where doing something wrong! Apparently there is evidence to show you didn't have the training.

I'd like to  a few times with an attitude like that.

[glitter]

I am terribly afraid of 'surgical awareness' that has to be the most horrific thing to go through.