California Authorities Write Up Adventist Hospital for Out-of-Date Foods, Unsanitary Conditions
10 November 2019 | The California Department of Health identified seven violations in a September 19 investigation of Adventist Health Tulare.
According to the Visalia Times-Delta, the violations include improper handling of a powerful narcotic, improper storage of a placenta, serving out-of-date food and operating a dirty kitchen.
In addition to the above, the Tulare county-based hospital failed to develop and implement a care plan for three patients. Also, the hospital neglected to document the removal of a patient’s fentanyl patch, potentially exposing the patient and others to an overdose of the drug.
The hospital also failed to verify a newborn baby’s glucose levels, a potentially harmful mistake.
The inspectors found a grayish substance under the ice machine in the hospital kitchen which was later identified as food debris from the kitchen sink.
Finally, leaking water under sinks in the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit had caused a brown substance on the floor. Investigators found that the failure to fix the leaks “had the potential to result in the spread of infection.”
Adventist Health Tulare opened as an Adventist Health facility in October 2018 after having been closed for a year after experiencing bankruptcy under the management of another hospital system.
Adventist Health had pledged to spend $10 million improving the hospital in its first two years of operation.
Adventist Health is a faith-based, nonprofit network of hospitals, clinics, home care agencies, hospice agencies and joint-venture retirement centers in both rural and urban communities, serving more than 80 communities across the western United States and Hawaii. The healthcare system is affiliated with the Adventist Church.
