Nursing Facility Fined $75K By CDPH

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has cited OakPark Healthcare in the Tujunga are of Los Angeles and fined it $75,000 for neglecting a patient who eventually died as a result.

According to the CDPH report, the skilled nursing facility allowed a patient to develop an advanced case of gangrene in the heel of her left foot. 

The patient’s gangrene progressed to the point where it caused septicemia, and led to her death in January 2013 at an unidentified acute care hospital.

The patient had been suffering neuropathy as a result of diabetes, and had developed a non-healing wound in her foot. A CDPH investigation concluded that her crying out in pain may have been diagnosed as a mood disorder and treated with psychotropic medication that may have altered her ability to communicate with staff.

Moreover, nursing staff ignored orders from a wound specialist regarding treating the afflicted are for more than two weeks, leading to the gangrene.

As part of a corrective action, the nursing staff underwent additional training and the facility agreed to perform body inspections of patients as shifts end.

In addition to the fine, OakPark received a AA citation, which is the most severe under state law.