Harbor-UCLA Medical Center failed to maintain a sanitary environment
Operating rooms were kept at the wrong humidity level
TORRANCE, Calif.—County-run Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance failed to keep its operating rooms clean and to protect its patients from possible infection, it was reported.
According to a report obtained by the Los Angeles Times, federal inspectors found hospital rooms that had holes in the ceilings or that were dusty and cluttered.
Operating rooms were kept at the wrong humidity level, which can lead to the spread of germs, The Times reported.
Some hospital staffers were not always washing their hands according to policy.
“The hospital failed to maintain a sanitary environment for the provision of surgical services,” an inspector wrote. “This could lead to contaminated surfaces in the operating room and the spread of infection.”
The infection control problems found at the county-run hospital earlier this year were so serious that the federal government sent a letter this summer threatening to revoke Medicare funding, a move that could financially destroy the institution. The county submitted a plan of correction.
The federal agency has not issued its follow-up report.
A series of patient-care lapses, some resulting in death, led to the eventually closing of county-run Martin Luther King Jr.-Drew Medical Center in 2007, which the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is in the process of reviving. A new hospital is set to open in 2013.
Harbor-UCLA was completed in 1963, and the county is spending about $323 million to build a 190,000-square-foot hospital to replace the original.
Construction is scheduled to be completed in 2013.
The state also cited the hospital for not quickly screening and stabilizing two patients who went to the emergency room complaining of chest pain, The Times reported. Another patient who had been hit by a car died after nurses failed to closely monitor his condition, according to the state.
The hospital has remained accredited by the Joint Commission, though it had 21 complaints that met the criteria for review by the agency.
Los Angeles police say two suspects have been arrested for the murder of 5-year-old Aaron Shannon, and are being held without bail. Leonard Hall Jr., 21, was taken into custody today (Friday) about at 2:10 a.m. at an apartment in the 200 block of West. 27th Str. Marcus Denson, 18, was arrested Thursday evening by Sheriff’s deputies in the 1100 block of East 83rd Street. Law enforcement officials say both suspects are active gang members.
Dennis Johnson and son Dejon were two of numerous youngsters and adults enjoying themselves at the Children’s Institute Annual Holiday Festival and Toy Giveaway, presented by major sponsor Mattel Children’s Foundation on Saturday and Sunday at the Burton E. Green Campus at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance.
The event was specifically designed for children and their families whose lives are impacted by family and community violence, abuse and other trauma.
TORRANCE, Calif.—A 16-year-old Bishop Montgomery High School sophomore was arrested for allegedly making "criminal threats'' against the school on YouTube, police said today.
The school was closed today because of concerns about the threat, but will open tomorrow, according to Torrance police Sgt. Steve Jenkinson. Police withheld the name of the boy, who was taken into custody Sunday, Jenkinson said.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today approved a $2.8 million settlement for a women who alleged that her son should have been delivered by caesarian section at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Guadalupe Fernandez arrived at the hospital some time on March 21, 2008 and gave birth in the early morning hours of March 23, 2008 to a baby boy.
Her son was diagnosed with neurological injuries and Fernandez, who was 18 at the time, sued the county on his behalf.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $94 million contract for the design and construction of a 136,500-square-foot outpatient facility for the Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center.
McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. won the contract for the four-story outpatient center, which will include a pharmacy, walk-in clinic and clinics for neurology and pulmonary medicine, among others. Some offices also will be renovated.
