Antonovich Calls for Investigation of Transferred MLK Employees

 

SUPERVISOR MICHAEL D. ANTONOVICH     Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, 5th District     869 Hahn Hall of Administration ~ 500 West Temple Street ~ Room 869     Los Angeles, CA 90012                                          www.antonovich.com

       

 

PRESS RELEASE

Contact:  Tony Bell, Communications Deputy    Office:  (213) 974-5555   Cell: (213) 215-5176    E-mail:  tbell@bos.lacounty.gov

 

 

September 9, 2008                                                                                         For Immediate Release

 

ANTONOVICH CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION

 OF ALL TRANSFERRED MLK EMPLOYEES

 

 

LOS ANGELES COUNTY – The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Supervisor Antonovich’s motion calling for the Department of Health Services to immediately conduct competency testing and background checks on employees transferred from Martin Luther King Hospital -- and discipline those managers who approved their transfer.  

 

On September 8, an audit by the Auditor-Controller revealed that the Department of Health Services had failed to provide adequate testing and background checks that may have revealed criminal records and failed competency tests that may have posed a threat to patient safety.  In some instances, MLK-Harbor nurses required as many as four attempts to pass competency tests and demonstrated high failure rates in core skills -- reflecting that the majority of the staff did not have a basic working knowledge or skills to perform the basic required competencies. 

 

“The Department must immediately act to identify and remove incompetent staff transferred from MLK-Harbor and discipline those managers that oversaw their transfer,” said Antonovich.  “The audit recommendations need to be implemented without delay to ensure complete background checks are conducted in a timely manner and that transferred staff are held to a consistent competency standard to protect patient safety.” 

 

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