Major violations found at Santa Clara County’s main hospital

State regulators have discovered a slew of violations at Santa Clara County’s main hospital in San Jose, according to documents obtained by the Bay Area News Group.

The deficiencies, identified in an October survey of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, puts the hospital at risk of losing its ability to receive Medicare reimbursements, which would leave the facility in a financially perilous position.

Violations included the failure to protect and promote patient rights, provide nursing services and create a quality assessment program.

“These cumulative failures resulted in the hospital’s inability to ensure patient safety and quality of care,” a report from the California Department of Public Health stated.

According to county officials, corrective actions have been made to address the violations and have been submitted to federal regulators at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS.

If regulators do not accept the corrections, Medicare reimbursements will end on April 25.

In a statement, Santa Clara Health and Hospital System CEO Paul Lorenz said the hospital takes “all instances of patient safety very seriously.”

Lorenz added, “This survey is an opportunity to reevaluate all of our processes to ensure our health system is providing the highest level of care for each and every patient, even under the most difficult and challenging circumstances. We appreciate the opportunity to review and improve our systems, and to provide the best possible patient care. Not only will we be better for this, but our patients and our community will benefit as well.”

Lorenz said he is confident that regulators will accept the county’s corrective actions.

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center has 731 beds and is the flagship facility for the county’s extensive healthcare system. The system also includes O’Conner Hospital in San Jose, St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy and DePaul Health Center in Morgan Hill.

This is a developing story and will be updated.