State hospitals fined

The California Department of Public Health has fined 13 state hospitals a total of $825,000 for lapses in patient safety and care.

Some of the penalties were the result of incidents in which hospital personnel left foreign objects inside patients during surgery, improperly monitored a full-term, viable infant—leading to the child’s death—and sexually assaulted one patient, according to The Associated Press. The hospitals facing penalties include Chinese Hospital in San Francisco, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, and Kaiser Foundation hospitals in Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco.

State hospitals are required to inform state regulators of all significant patient injuries and must pay $50,000 for a first violation, $75,000 for a second and $100,000 for a third and all subsequent violations.