The state Department of Public Health has released the names of three Bay Area hospitals that are being given administrative penalties for violating state and federal regulations and endangering their patients.
Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, San Francisco General Hospital and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose were among 13 California hospitals determined to be noncompliant with certain state laws that regulate acute care facilities.
San Francisco General was fined $25,000 for failing to follow set surgical policies, which resulted in a patient having to “undergo removal of a retained foreign object” in 2008, according to the health department.
Kaiser Permanente and Valley Medical Center were fined $50,000 each for failing to implement procedures for the safe administration of medication and for failing to provide an accurate assessment of a patient. The violations occurred in 2009.
All three hospitals were being penalized for the first time, according to the health department.
