California's Washington Hospital Sued in Stillborn Delivery, Public Health Department Issues Citations

Washington Hospital in Fremont, Calif., is in the midst of an ongoing lawsuit filed last year by a woman who alleges the hospital's substandard care was a factor in the delivery of her stillborn, according to an Oakland Tribune news report.

An autopsy report concluded the stillborn's death was a result of an amniotic fluid infection and there was no evident wrongdoing by the hospital. However, the California Department of Public Health issued several citations against the hospital in April. A majority of the violations centered around failure to follow hospital policies.

 



Among its citations, the DPH found no labor and delivery nurse was present during the epidural. It also found a nurse that was present during the delivery told state investigators she was not trained on how to read or interpret fetal heart rate monitoring strips, according to the news report.

Since then, the hospital has fired five nurses and required several others to attend remediation class. The hospital has also reportedly implemented other corrective measures, including adding assistant nurse managers to all shifts.

Hospital nurses have protested the firings, saying the hospital board unfairly fired nurses who were not directly involved with the incident.

Read the news report about the Washington Hospital policy violations.

Related Articles on California Hospitals:
Two California Hospitals Report C. Diff Outbreaks
California's Community Hospital of San Bernadino Must Pay $80K for Patient's 2008 Death
Personal Information Breached for Roughly 9K Calif. Department of Public Health Employees

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