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Surgeon operates on wrong side of hip in San Luis Obispo

July 18, 2024

By KAREN VELIE

An orthopedic surgeon operated on the wrong side of an elderly woman’s hip at French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo this summer, resulting in the woman needing a second surgery, according to hospital staff.

In early May, Arroyo Grande Community Hospital temporarily closed down all surgical facilities after an outdated instrument cleaning machine crashed. During the operating shutdown, some surgeries were performed at French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo.

Members of the surgical team from Arroyo Grande conducted the problematic hip surgery at French Hospital. Generally, a time out procedure is conducted before suregery, a nurse said. A time-out is the surgical team’s short pause to confirm that they are about to perform the correct procedure, on the correct body part, on the correct patient.

Dignity Health, the nonprofit that operates both Arroyo Grande Community Hospital and French Hospital Medical Center, is investigating the surgical incident.

“Patient care and safety are our highest priorities, and we take this matter very seriously,” Dignity said in a statement regarding the incident. “We are conducting a thorough investigation of the matter. Consistent with patient privacy laws and hospital policy, we respect our patients’ privacy by not discussing the specifics of their care.”

 


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French Hospital tried to bill me forever for a procedure that was not mine! It took months before they finally figured out they were billing me in error. And their rehab on my bad shoulder was useless. Rehab tech was bad and I shouldn’t have bothered with it.


6

The story has an inaccurate headline. The surgeon didn’t operate on the wrong side of the hip; the surgeon operated on the wrong hip. Hips themselves don’t have sides.


8

Could have been worse… could have been an amputation procedure.


11

Human error? Nah…probably just some computer glitch! (gulp)


5

Whoopsie!


4

I bet they charge her for both procedures….


44

French spends lots of money on billboards that tout it as “The only 5 Star Hospital in the County”. They also spend $700K for naming rights in a CalPoly Scoreboard. Yet they can’t invest in the basic requirements of a common surgery (1. Marking the correct side of the surgical site while the patient is awake, 2. An organized “Time Out” procedure prior to incision that ensures the right surgical site and everything else, 3. “Stop The Line” and “Chain of Command” policies that empower OR staff to speak out when they see something awry).


Maybe FHMC’s “Your New French Hospital”

Fund-raising campaign should take a

Pause so they can focus on the current French Hospital to ensure patient safety and

Adherence to the CMS Medicare Conditions of Participation.


18

TruthSayer1 speaks the truth on points 1-3. In the modern operating suite there are numerous safeguards to ensure things like wrong site surgeries don’t occur.


5