Hospital to Begin Blood Type Rechecks

In the wake of an incident in which a patient was given the wrong type of blood, workers at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks will today begin to recheck blood types immediately before administering transfusions.

The hospital also said it will begin requiring workers who draw blood to fill out a “Blood Bank Verification Card,” a signed document declaring that the label on the specimen taken from a patient matches the label on the patient’s hospital armband.

The precautions were among a series of procedural changes at the hospital that were included in a “plan of correction” that Los Robles sent to state and federal regulators who cited procedural problems at the facility late last month.

“We’ve reviewed it and judged it adequate,” said Mary Jew of the federal Health Care Financing Administration. If the administration found fault with the plan of correction, it could have asked for revisions, or it could have threatened to cut the hospital off from participating in federally funded health care programs.

Jew said the agency has authorized the state’s Laboratory Field Services Branch to conduct a follow-up investigation of Los Robles to ensure that the correction plan is fully implemented.

In February, a 60-year-old patient was given nearly six pints of the wrong type of blood. After suffering a reaction, the patient recovered. The mistake prompted investigations from state and federal agencies.