State fines eight California hospitals for safety violations
The California Department of Public Health said this week that it has fined eight California hospitals a total of $775,000 after finding serious violations of their licensing requirements.
Fines of $100,000 each were assessed to Desert Medical Regional Center in Palm Springs, Memorial Hospital Medical Center in Modesto, Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego and Southwest Healthcare in Murietta, which received two penalties of $100,000 each in separation citations.
St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley was assessed one fine of $100,000 and another of $75,000, according to the public health department.
Other hospitals fined by the department were Kaiser Foundation hospitals in Orange and Riverside counties and San Bernardino Medical Center in San Bernardino.
The violations, found during department investigations, cover a variety of problems that caused, or were likely to cause, serious injury or death to patients. The department can increase the amount of the fines with each subsequent violation.
Hospitals found to be in violation of their licensing requirements must submit a plan for correcting the situation.
Details about the citations, plus the hospitals’ actions to correct the violations can be found on the department’s website.
Twitter: @jeanmerl
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