CDPH Fines 12 Hospitals $750,000

The California Department of Public Health has levied administrative penalties and $750,000 in fines against 12 hospitals for lapses in care that either endangered, injured or killed patients. The penalties include:

• Mercy Hospital in Merced received a $100,000 fine for a 2013 incident in which a patient received a fatal overdose of the opioid painkiller dialudid, compounded by nearly three-and-a-half hour lapse in being checked on by the nursing staff. It is the hospital's third administrative penalty.

• Marin General Hospital was fined $100,000 for a 2013 incident in which a patient undergoing cranial surgery had to have a second procedure to remove a surgical clip left in his skull. It is the hospital's fifth administrative penalty.

• California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco received a $75,000 fine for a 2013 incident in which a patient undergoing an hysterectomy retained a drainage bulb. The bulb was discovered and removed after the patient was readmitted complaining of abdominal pain. That required a three-day hospital stay in order the treat the patient's infection. It is California Pacific's fifth administrative penalty.

• Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center was fined $75,000 for a 2012 incident in which a patient received double the recommended dosage for a blood thinner, leading to intercranial bleeding and their death. It is the hospital's second administrative penalty.

• Kaiser Foundation Hospital in San Diego was fined $75,000 for a 2013 incident where a prematurely newborn baby was placed under an unregulated heating device, leading to third-degree burns on her groin and vagina. a “serious disability.” It is the hospital's third administrative penalty.Desert Valley Hospital in Victorville was fined $50,000 for a 2011 incident in which a patient received a chest drainage tube on the wrong side of his body due to a misinterpreted x-ray. It is the hospital's second administrative penalty.

• Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula was fined $50,000 for a 2013 incident in which a patient received a medication to increase their blood pressure without a physician's order while undergoing surgery to clear her carotid artery. This led to the patient's death. It is the hospital's first administrative penalty.

• Glenn Medical Center in Willows was fined $50,000 for a 2013 incident in which an expectant mother was not screened for preeclampsia and discharged. Both she and her child died as a result. It was the hospital's first administrative penalty.

• Redlands Community Hospital was fined $50,000 for a 2013 incident in which a sponge was left in a patient who had had a pacemaker implanted. The sponge caused deterioration of the patient's skin. It is the hospital's first administrative penalty.

• San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital was fined $50,000 for a 2013 incident where a patient's left arm was broken after being restrained by staff unnecessarily. It is the hospital's first administrative penalty.

• Scripps Mercy Medical Center in San Diego was fined $50,000 for a 2013 incident in which a patient was repeatedly not administered medication to lower his potassium level in their blood. The patient died as a result. It is the hospital's first administrative penalty.

• Seton Medical Center in Daly City was fined $50,000 for a 2012 incident where a patient fell in the shower and the appropriate diagnostic tests were not undertaken to assess any harm. She later lost conciousness and died as a result. It is the hospital's first administrative penalty.