Health Department Fines 3 Bay Area Hospitals For Serious Patient Mistakes
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— Three Bay Area hospitals have been fined a combined $225,000 by the California Department of Public Health. 10 facilities were fined in the state altogether for infractions that could have caused serious injury or death to patients.
The state agency issued the fines for failures to follow licensing requirements. The fines involve patients receiving the wrong medications and having medical objects left in their bodies after surgery.
The Pacific Campus of California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco was fined $100,000 after a patient had to undergo a second surgery after a foreign object had to be removed from their body.
3 Bay Area Hospitals Fined By Health Department For Serious Patient Mistakes
The same error occurred at CPMC's St. Luke's campus, which was fined $50,000.
Marin General Hospital received a $75,000 fine for unsafe distribution of medication.
"After an investigation is completed and the violation is substantiated, the hospital must complete a corrective action plan to correct the violation immediately and also submit a corrective action plan to prevent this from happening again in the future," said Debbie Rogers with the California Department of Public Health.
The department said statewide the number one infraction they see are cases where an instrument is left inside the patient, followed by cases where patients receive the wrong medication.
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