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Inspector raised safety issues about CA hospital a year ago

Hospital Safety Connection, June 15, 2004

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A state inspector raised concerns about sanitation and patient safety at a Rancho Cucamonga, CA, hospital almost a year before the state ordered it closed last month over concerns that poor care had led to four deaths, the Los Angeles Times reports.

In May 2003, before Angels Hospital even opened its doors, a state Department of Health Services inspector reported significant concerns about the lack of adequate staffing, unsanitary conditions, and questionable dietary plans for patients.

Inspector Ranya Atiyeh, in an e-mail about the hospital's application for a state license, also said the medical center did not have a policy about feeding tubes for patients, even though it expected 60% of its population would be tube fed. The hospital quickly corrected those deficiencies and received a license to open less than two weeks later.

But three months after the hospital's opening, a second state inspection team found other problems such as patients being given improper dosages of drugs. Several other agencies learned of problems related to patient care and finances, but failed to relay their concerns to state health officials.

Some of the same concerns were included in a recent investigation into four patients' deaths at the facility since early March. The department ordered the hospital temporarily closed May 12, and regulators said they may forward their findings to criminal prosecutors.

The agency's report accused Angels staff of calling 911 on several occasions because no physicians were present, relying on paramedics to treat patients in life-threatening situations. Three of those patients died.

Regulators also alleged that the hospital tried to save money by not changing ventilator tubes until they were visibly soiled or contaminated, and turned down alarms on patients' cardiac telemetry machines, which detect cardiac arrests.

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