Bay Area hospitals were in the news this week, and while the news was not all good for the facilities’ administrators, even the bad news is likely to benefit patients. One facility, San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital is nearing completion. Meanwhile, two other Bay Area hospitals have been slapped with fines by the California Department of Public Health.
On Wednesday the San Francisco Chronicle reported on the near completion, after 10 years, of San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital renovations. The restorations for the nursing home hospital are, reporter Erin Allday wrote, “state of the art.” With a price tag $585 million — $296 million of from voter-approved bonds — the hospital can accommodate 780 elderly patients who need skilled nursing and rehabilitation care. Laguna Honda Executive Administrator Mivic Hirose told the Chronicle, “It’s going to have quite an impact on people’s quality of life.”
The San Francisco Business Times reported Friday that two Bay Area hospitals were among nine facilities fined by the California Department of Public Health for “noncompliance with licensing requirements” that caused, or were likely to cause, serious injury or death. Hospitals are charged $50,000 for a first offense, $75,000 for a second, and $100,000 for a third or consequent offense.
Alameda County Medical Center in Oakland was fined $75,000 for a medication error, while Marin General Hospital was charged $50,000 for failure to follow surgical policies and medical procedures. Hospitals that were fined by the Department of Public Health are required to show follow-through by submitting a plan of correction on how they will solve the problem and avoid similar situations in the future.
