CA hospital fined for violations leading to physician's slaying
Hospital Safety Connection, May 19, 2004
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John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro, CA, faces $54,000 in fines levied by state regulators for reported safety violations after a physician was beaten and strangled to death last November, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) issued the citations on May 12 after investigating the death of Erlinda Ursua, 60. Patient Rene Pavon, 48, killed Ursua November 19 in a private exam room, authorities said. Pavon has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder.
Cal/OSHA found that the exam room was too isolated from other employees who could have been alerted in case of trouble. Hospital staff also failed to follow an unwritten policy that physicians were never to be left alone with "potentially violent patients," according to the Cal/OSHA report.
In addition, employees failed to comply with a policy forbidding staff members from wearing scarves or jewelry; Ursua apparently wore a scarf that could have been used to strangle her. John George staff also failed to determine why Pavon was in possession of medical paperwork after she allegedly killed the physician.
Ursua's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the hospital in April, claiming the facility failed to provide adequate security.
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