SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – State and local authorities have fined two Kaiser Permanente Bay Area hospitals by more than $ 184,000 in the past few months for not reporting when employees were infected with COVID-19, officials said.
Cal / OSHA, the state agency that oversees workplace safety, fined the health giant’s San Jose facility by more than $ 85,000 in November after she was quiet when one of her employees was hospitalized for a week with COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic, Mercury News reported.
Santa Clara County officials fined the same hospital $ 43,000 this month for failing to report a deadly coronavirus outbreak that may have been caused by an inflatable costume worn by an unconsciously infected employee on Christmas Day. The number of cases linked to this outbreak reached 60 employees and one employee died.
Santa Clara County officials said they learned of the Christmas Day outbreak in January, after the Oakland hospital chain released a press release. They issued $ 1,000 fines for each of the 43 initial cases. Kaiser is responsible for timely notification of cases, the county said.
Cal / OSHA also fined Kaiser hospital in Antioquia $ 56,000 in December, after the hospital did not immediately report that two employees were hospitalized with coronavirus in May and July, among other violations to maintain a safe work environment amid pandemic.
In a statement on Monday, the hospital chain emphasized that the $ 85,000 state fine imposed on the San Jose hospital resulted from complaints made last spring, when the virus was new and regulations were constantly evolving. He said he is appealing the fine.
“It is important to note that they have absolutely nothing to do with what may have happened at Kaiser Permanente San Jose on December 25,” said Kaiser.
Cal / OSHA said on Monday that it is also investigating “subsequent illnesses and complaints” at Kaiser hospital in San Jose.