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Published on 05/11/1998 All articles from this issue

El Camino Hospital prepares for new accreditation, deals with surprise occurrences

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By Clyde Noel

Special to the Town Crier

12-member commission will review hospital policies next month

In preparation for the June 22-23 visit by the Joint Commission for El Camino Hospital's next accreditation, the regular meeting of the board of directors approved a new sentinel event policy, a new performance improvement plan and a patient care policy.

Richard Warren, El Camino chief executive officer and administrator, said the 12-member commission "will review everything we do at the hospital - the results are very important to the community and the district board of directors."

The sentinel policy deals with unexpected occurrences involving death or serious physical or psychological injury. The policy is called sentinel because it signals the need for immediate investigation and response. The goal is to minimize the legal liability by establishing communication guidelines, hospital officials said.

The performance improvement plan is based on El Camino Hospital's mission, vision and strategic goals. It involves public accountability and local controlled care.

"When our employees and physicians talk about El Camino Hospital, they feel a great sense of pride in knowing their contributions will make a difference to the people they serve," Warren said.

In other action, the board of directors approved an upgrade of the hospital's magnetic resonance imaging equipment. The radiology services staff has evaluated the need to perform a total upgrade on one of the two MRI systems in operation. The staff recommended one of the two systems be completely upgraded at a cost of approximately $1.24 million.

Owen Aurelio, chief operating officer and associate administrator, said one of the highest priorities at El Camino Hospital is to re-establish the necessary ongoing maintenance programs to upgrade the facilities and not allow deterioration beyond greater replacement and repair expenses.

At Aurelio's request, the board approved a hospital campus parking lot resurfacing not to exceed $244,000. Maintenance has not been attempted on any parking lot for the last six years and in some cases, 11 years.

In previous action, Warren presented a resolution to initiate a standby letter of credit for approximately $5.7 million with El Camino Hospital's bank, Wells Fargo. The establishment of unsecured credit is a requirement for the hospital's self-insurance program for workers' compensation.

It was approved unanimously.