Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside Fined by State

OCEANSIDE, CA – Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside was one of two San Diego County hospitals recently fined by the California Department of Public Health.

Tri-City Medical Center received a $47,025 fine after an avoidable incident that left a woman permanently unable to bear children.

According to the state agency’s report, one of the hospital’s surgical teams left two lap sponges inside the abdomen of a woman following a January 2015 surgery for a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, in which a fertilized egg attaches itself outside the uterus. The California Department of Public Health reported the sponges caused an infection that damaged the patient’s reproductive system, requiring surgeons to perform a complete hysterectomy.

Tri-City did not immediately release a statement. However, the state health agency said the hospital revised its monitoring policy, re-educated its nursing and surgical tech staff on the counting process for medical equipment, terminated a registered nurse and suspended a scrub tech for three days.

Scripps Mercy Hospital’s Hillcrest campus was also fined $100,000 after a suicidal patient jumped from a 10th-floor window and died after a 60-foot fall in May 2014.

According to the report, Scripps Health staff reviewed protocols for dealing with suicidal patients and new standards were developed for assessing them.

City News Service contributed to this report. / Image via Shutterstock