Hospital Devises Plan to Correct Violations

Los Robles Regional Medical Center has submitted a plan to correct violations of state regulations in its nine-bed pediatric ward.

The hospital was cited during a June 24 surprise inspection by the state Department of Health Services. State officials found deficiencies in infant security and safety maintenance.

“We did a thorough investigation and we found these things and we cited them,” said Lana Pimbley, district manager of licensing and certification at the agency’s Ventura district office.

Officials indicated that serious violations could lead to the ward being closed, but that is not being done in this case.

According to the June 24 report, the state inspector found that “facility staff failed to implement their own policies and procedures to protect infants from removal from the facility by unauthorized persons.”

The hospital uses several methods to keep track of newborns, including posting names and locations of mothers and their babies on a board.

“On the tour [by state officials], the board indicated there were three babies in the nursery when the actual count was two,” the report said.

No infants have been taken from the hospital by unauthorized people.

Hospital officials said they could not comment on the violations or the correction plan that they submitted until they receive word from the state the plan has been approved.

The state report said the correction plan includes reviewing the electronic monitoring system, which tracks children under 5 with radio transmitters.

The report noted that the hospital has been using an electronic monitoring system since 1994 to track infants.

“We have a very intricate infant security system,” hospital spokeswoman Kris Carraway-Bowman said. “There are a lot of checks and balances to that.”

Some of the violations appear to stem from the hospital’s plan to move the pediatric ward from the third to the second floor without approval of the health services department.

Other violations included not moving a play area to a larger space; leaving equipment in the hallway of the pediatric ward, creating a safety hazard; and not performing an adequate assessment of safety procedures for the pediatric unit.