Maggots found in soup, patient’s nose at Riverside hospital, union says
A view of Parkview Community Hospital in 2002. Hospital workers with a local union say unsanitary and unsafe conditions have been observed. They alleged maggots were found in hospital cafeteria food.
A Riverside hospital has been accused of several health violations, including maggots being found in cafeteria food and a patient’s nose.
Healthcare workers with SEIU-UHW filed a complaint Monday with the California Department of Public Health, alleging Parkview Community Hospital was operating in unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
“Management at Parkview Community Hospital is undermining the facility to the point where it’s a struggle to safely care for patients,” hospital employee Willie Conley said in a union statement.
“We have expressed a number of concerns and we believe the public should understand what’s going on behind the hospital’s doors so corrective action can quickly be taken,” the statement continued.
The union alleges an employee found maggots in lentil soup served to staff and patients in the hospital cafeteria in April. Maggots, they said, were also found in a patient’s mouth and nose. A worker in the hospital’s intensive care unit was performing oral care on the patient when the maggots were found.
Hospital spokesman David Silver said the allegations were false, and a public health investigation “will show that.”
“It’s totally false; they are lying,” Silver said.
Union members also claimed patients with less serious injuries were forced to sit in chairs and wait for long periods in emergency room hallways due to overcrowding. Meanwhile, they received basic treatment at unsanitary temporary fast-track stations, the union said.
Hospital workers alleged the hospital uses vehicles not certified to transport patients, has hazardous equipment and generator issues.
In 2009, public health officials investigated the hospital after a surgeon removed the wrong kidney from a patient. According to public health officials, the surgeon did not have the proper privileges to perform the kidney surgery, and hospital administrators never reviewed his record.
The hospital was eventually fined $50,000 for the incident.
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