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Five SoCal Hospitals Receive Penalties from State for Causing Serious Injury or Death to Patients
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The California Department of Public Health this morning announced that seven hospitals in California have been assessed with administrative penalties after it was determined that the facilities’ noncompliance with licensing requirements caused, or was likely caused, serious injury or death to patients. Five of them were in Southern California. No hospitals were in L.A. County, but they were in surrounding ones. The Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Fontana was fined a total of $75,000 for failing "to ensure the health and safety of a patient when the hospital did not follow its surgical policies and procedures." Southwest Healthcare System in Murrieta $225,000 for three violations dealing with newborns and surgical policies and procedures. $50,000 was accessed to 8. St. Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino for surgical policies and procedures as well. And the same violation earned Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego a $25,000 assessment.
In Orange County, however, a patient died when St. Joseph Hospital "failed to maintain the operational status of their respiratory equipment."
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