Sacramento-based Sutter Health will pay more than $71,000 in fines after a Cal/OSHA investigation found violations at the system's Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland for how to handle patients with infectious diseases, according to a San Francisco Gate report.
The violation was discovered in 2012 when the hospital had several suspected tuberculosis patients. Nurses complained that potential TB patients were being held in isolation rooms that didn't work, according to the report, and Cal/OSHA investigated.
The agency issued citations to the hospital, and Sutter Health appealed those findings. According to a statement from the hospital, steps were taken immediately to rectify the violations. "It's important to note that review of the clinical data demonstrated that no patients or staff were put at risk," the statement reads, according to SF Gate.
Sutter will pay $71,275 in fines issued by Cal/OSHA.