Fulton State Hospital In Mo. Marks ‘Milestone’ In Reconstruction Project
In other hospital news, Sun Valley Hospital in California agreed to pay $1 million to settle a case alleging that hospital employees put a woman with mental illness into a taxi and then lost track of her for three days.
St. Louis Public Radio:
Fulton State Hospital Set To Move Emergency Command And Other Services Into New Building
Efforts to rebuild Fulton State Hospital have reached a "milestone," in the words of Gov. Jay Nixon. The first new building in the reconstruction project is complete and expected to become fully operational next month. The Energy Control Center and Services Building will house several functions, including the emergency command post, power supply, computer services, maintenance and food preparation for patients. (Griffin, 6/23)
Los Angeles Times:
Sun Valley Hospital Settles For $1 Million In Second Patient-Dumping Lawsuit
A San Fernando Valley hospital has agreed to pay $1 million in civil penalties to settle allegations that it put a mentally ill woman in a taxi and lost track of her for three days, Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer announced Thursday. Under the terms of the settlement, Pacifica Hospital of the Valley admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to revamp its protocols for discharging homeless patients. It is the second time in two years that the hospital — a 231-bed facility in Sun Valley — has settled with the city attorney’s office in patient-dumping cases. (Branson-Potts, 6/23)
Meanwhile, hospitals in some developing countries face daily challenges that, in the United States, would be considered catastrophic -
Wyoming Public Radio:
It's Not Easy Running A Hospital Without Running Water
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health looked at studies on 430 hospitals in 19 low- and middle-income countries. In an article published online in the Journal of Surgical Research, they reported that a third of the hospitals surveyed — a total of 147 — did not have continuous running water. The most startling statistics come from Liberia, where 80 percent of the hospitals did not have running water all the time, and Sierra Leone, where the figure was 81 percent. (Silver, 6/23)