U.S. Report Details Kaiser Care Problems

Federal investigators have released a critical report detailing patient-care problems at Kaiser Permanente’s hospitals in Oakland and Richmond discovered during a surprise inspection in March. The inspection followed reports of deaths of three patients transferred from Kaiser’s Richmond hospital last winter. Among the report’s findings were inexplicable delays in transferring patients, short staffing and inadequate quality-control procedures. Kaiser, which faced the possible loss of federal funding at the two hospitals, has taken corrective actions, said officials of the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration. A follow-up inspection is scheduled in the next several weeks.