HERSHEY – Penn State Hershey Medical Center has been cited by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for the death of a 6-year-old boy and its handling of it. Media reports indicate the death occurred the day after the boy was brought to the emergency room January 10.
According to the state Department of Health’s Inspection report, the boy came in with an 89.4 temperature. He was then put in a heated blanket and his temperature rose almost to normal. But the night nurse on-call failed to record temperatures to a point where the boy’s temperature rose to 107.6 degrees. The boy was taken to the pediatric intensive care unit where efforts to save him were unsuccessful.
It wasn’t reported to hospital authorities until March 3 after the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority received an anonymous letter from an employee. The hospital then waited until March 29 to contact the state Department of Health, which conducted an investigation April 12.
Hershey Medical Center was issued many citations, including failure to report a serious incident within the required 24 hours, and failure to meet standards of care. The hospital was ordered to provide immediate corrective actions and did so April 13. In a statement, the hospital expressed sorrow for the boys death and took responsibility for the errors.
