BURBANK HOSPITAL CITED : VIOLATIONS THREATEN BURBANK HOSPITAL'S STATUS.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

Thompson Memorial Medical Center risks losing Medicare and Medi-Cal reimbursements beginning April 1 if it does not fix sanitation and procedural violations uncovered by regulators.

Acting on a complaint, officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services inspected the 105-bed hospital in November and cited it for failure to maintain the facility ``in a clean and sanitary manner,'' among other violations, according to a report prepared by inspectors.

``They were serious deficiencies,'' said Eric Stone, a supervisor in the health department's licensing section.

More problems were found during a February inspection, Stone said, but that report is not being released until the hospital has a chance to respond to the allegations.

Jerry Gillman, president and chief executive officer at Thompson, said the hospital is taking the deficiency reports seriously and has filed two plans to correct the situation.

``They found issues that are real. The notice said we could lose our Medicare certification as of April 1,'' Gillman said. ``The hospital has been responding to the state action. We are determined to meet the conditions of receiving Medicare.''

Gillman said the hospital, at 466 E. Olive Ave., has been through a time of great upheaval in recent months. Since 1990, it has been owned by a limited partnership made up of 90 Thompson doctors.

But over the past several months, Gillman and three partners have bought up all the shares in the limited partnership and last month filed with the California Secretary of State's Office to dissolve the partnership and create a new company called Gateway of Burbank.

Stone said the inspections only involve the hospital's Medicare certification and are not related to accreditation. Hospitals are inspected every three years for accreditation.

In the November inspection, the facility was cited for failure to follow consent requirements for some surgical procedures; some post-surgery paperwork was missing; and body parts removed in surgery were ``not disposed of in a timely manner.''

The hospital also was cited for lacking an effective governing body responsible for the quality of care given to patients and admitting psychiatric patients even though the hospital is not licensed to do so by the Department of Mental Health.

The deficiency report noted that the hospital also gave four anesthesiologists and a surgeon ``temporary clinical privileges'' to carry out their work, although they had not received proper training, and that procedures to ensure that nurses were licensed were not in place.

Gillman said he was most troubled by the allegations that the facility was not being managed in a clean manner, noting that the hospital was cited specifically for an overflowing trash bin and not widespread uncleanliness.

``We're talking about a trash container without a lid on it,'' Gillman said. ``This is a clean hospital.''

As for body parts being kept around too long, Gillman said the hospital has responded to that allegation, noting that it has always had a contract with a private disposal company.