Here are four things to know about the fine.
1.The fine was issued by California’s department of public health, which alleges hospital workers did not remove harmful objects from the patient when they were admitted to a locked psychiatric unit which resulted in the patient’s suicide and death.
“The facility did not have a policy or procedure to identify objects of harm, nor a policy or procedure to identify specific interventions that responsible nursing or medical staff should take to conduct a search and remove objects of harm,” the state said. “Additionally, responsible nursing staff failed to follow facility policy and procedure regarding the search of [the patient] for objects of harm These failures resulted in [the patient’s suicide].”
2. Kim Milstien, the hospital’s CEO, said the hospital told state health officials about the incident as soon as it happened, and as required by the state, has made significant changes by working with psychiatrists and aligning its policies with national best practices to train staff to make the unit “as suicide-preventative as possible,” according to the Ventura County Star.
3. Specifically, the hospital’s plans include a definitive process for searching patients, a specific list of harmful objects, a procedure in the event a patient refuses a search and a system for more detailed patient documentation, the state said, according to the report.
4. This is not the first penalty for VCMC. According to the Ventura County Star, the hospital was also fined in 2009 after a surgical towel was left inside a patient during a surgery and in 2007 after a patient at its sister facility, Santa Paula (Calif.) Hospital, experienced complications after a surgery.
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