Woman, 85, Rejected in Mix-Up, Hospital Says

A “breakdown in communication” triggered an incident in which an 85-year-old woman suffering from a brain injury was turned away from the emergency room at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica last year, the facility’s medical director said Tuesday.

Dr. Robert E. Fredricks said that the hospital’s CAT scanner, which helps physicians diagnose brain injuries, was not operating Oct. 19, when the woman was rushed by ambulance to St. John’s. The hospital notified dispatchers with the area’s emergency network of the problem but the ambulance drivers were not told until they arrived at the hospital, Fredricks said. A nurse diverted the ambulance to a nearby hospital, where the woman was treated for brain, heart and respiratory problems.

The incident led to an investigation that found emergency room and quality control deficiencies at the facility, and prompted the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration to threaten to cut off $37 million in Medicare funding for the hospital. Fredricks said those problems will be corrected by a March 6 deadline.