Failure to monitor and prevent theft and abuse of federally-controlled drugs by emergency department staff at Kaweah Health Medical Center led health authorities to threaten sanctions that could have resulted in the Kaweah Delta Health Care District losing a substantial portion of its federal funding, The Valley Voice reports.
According to an inspection report by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), an ongoing pattern of negligence on the part of the district’s governing board, administrators and care providers in securing the hospital’s supply of dangerous controlled pharmaceuticals against theft and mishandling led to the overdose death of a contracted employed in a public restroom at its main facility. The report also uncovered what appears to be a drug-abuse problem among staff at the health district’s main campus. Read more.