Local News in Brief : Hospital Violations Cited
State health inspectors have directed two Los Angeles hospitals to correct health code deficiencies in their overcrowded emergency rooms.
After visits June 23 and 24 to County-USC Medical Center and Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, inspectors reported finding insufficient staffing, poor sanitation and long delays in patient care at the hospitals.
Joan Dowling, regional administrator for the state Department of Health Services licensing and certification division, said Tuesday that at County-USC “there was no space to care for patients” once they had left the emergency room and were waiting to be admitted to hospital beds. Patients were left on gurneys for lack of beds, and a single cubicle was frequently shared by two patients--sometimes of the opposite sex, Dowling said.
The inspections were made after the medical directors at both institutions publicly complained of overcrowding and insufficient staff. On July 11 the hospitals were given 10 days to formulate a plan to correct deficiencies. State health officials said they expect the deadline to be met.
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