Four Southern California Hospitals Fined by Department of Public Health

Three hospitals in Los Angeles County and one in Riverside County were among a dozen fined by the state Department of Public Health, authorities said today.

The four Southland hospitals, each fined $50,000, are Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Boyle Heights, Torrance Memorial Medical Center and Riverside Community Hospital.

The 12 hospitals were fined "after it was determined the facilities' noncompliance with licensing requirements caused, or was likely to cause, serious injury or death to patients," the CDPH said.

Brotman Medical Center "failed to ensure the health and safety of a patient when it failed to follow its policies and procedures for fall prevention,'' the CDPH said. "This is the second administrative penalty issued to this hospital.''

County-USC Medical Center "failed to ensure the health and safety of a patient when it failed to implement written policies and procedures to ensure the safe and effective administration of medication,'' the CDPH said. "This is the fourth administrative penalty issued to this hospital.''

Torrance Memorial Medical Center "failed to ensure the health and
safety of a patient when it did not follow its surgical policies and
procedures,'' the CDPH said. "This is the first administrative penalty issued to this hospital.''

Riverside Community Hospital "failed to ensure the health and safety of a patient when it did not follow its surgical policies and procedures,'' the CDPH said. "This is the first administrative penalty issued to this hospital.''

City News Service contributed to this report.