Local News in Brief : Hospital Gets 3-Day Extension to Submit Plan for Corrections

County health officials have extended until Thursday the deadline for administrators at Burbank Community Hospital to submit a plan for correcting deficiencies in health care and staffing.

Officials at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services had said last week that they might initiate steps to close the hospital if it failed to submit a plan by Monday.

The officials said the hospital had been given 10 working days to respond to an investigation that found it deficient in administration, staff procedures, emergency treatment and quality medical assurance.

Robert Karp, program manager for the health facilities division of the department, said the hospital’s director, Jurral Rhee, apparently had not been given a specific deadline for the plan. “There was no letter to Mr. Rhee that gave him 10 working days to respond,” Karp said.

Karp said he will meet with Rhee and hospital administrators Thursday to receive the hospital’s plan.

Rhee denied any wrongdoing after the investigation determined that the hospital “failed to assure that properly trained and qualified personnel were assigned to the emergency department.”

It also said that Rhee was not properly managing the facility and that the hospital’s board of trustees failed to correct serious problems.