Human flesh and blood. Confidential patient information. Fentanyl.
Santa Clara County’s top prosecutor alleges his investigators found these items and more after a covert, yearlong investigation into illegal dumping by Valley Medical Center, St. Louise and O’Connor hospitals. Investigators in hazmat suits conducted a series of unannounced waste inspections of garbage compactors starting in November 2023, according to District Attorney Jeff Rosen. He alleges they also found a plethora of illegal medical and hazardous waste dumping at Regional Medical Center, which the county is acquiring from HCA Healthcare to expand what is now the state’s second largest public hospital system.
“I hope it’s obvious how problematic it is that people’s names and medical information were tossed out like old magazines,” Rosen said at the Thursday news conference.
Based on the pattern of violations uncovered in the probe, Rosen said he believes tens of thousands of items containing hazardous waste have been illegally dumped in the last year, when they should have been separated from regular garbage into special bags and incinerated. Other materials uncovered in the hospitals’ trash include full vials of prescription antibiotics, anesthetics and over-the-counter drugs. Investigators said they found hundreds of documents and labels with un-redacted personal patient information.
“This was disturbing and difficult work, sifting through tons of trash by hand,” Rosen said. “It’s bad enough when we find irresponsible private corporations skirting the law. But the hospitals in this case are owned by the county and run by public taxpayer money — your money.”
He further criticized county leaders for not taking immediate corrective action, when he said he informed them about the probe upon the county’s announced purchase of Regional Medical Center earlier this year. Since then, he said the county has taken some remedial steps, but added that given the hospital system’s size, it will be difficult to change overnight.
County hospital officials said they’re taking the investigation seriously.
“We are committed to adopting industry best-practices to prevent future occurrences and upon learning of the details three weeks ago, immediately began implementing corrective actions to address the concerns, including reviewing and updating policies, creating an audit review process and designating department liaisons to quickly facilitate necessary changes,” a Santa Clara Valley Healthcare spokesperson told San José Spotlight. “We take environmental stewardship and the confidentiality of patient health information seriously and are working to strengthen our efforts in these areas while still delivering high-quality patient care.”
The announcement comes after Rosen took aim at the hospital system earlier this year, when a county budget debate prompted his office — facing layoffs — to suggest leaders make spending cuts elsewhere, such as the hospitals’ soaring taxpayer expenses.
Rosen denied the notion his probe is politically motivated and said the DA’s office has repeatedly investigated other county agencies.
“Are we singling out the county? The answer is no. We expect all the health care systems in the county, both private and public, to comply with environmental protection laws, hazardous waste and confidential information,” Rosen said. “I can’t publicly comment about other investigations involving other corporations we may currently be involved in or were involved in. But one of the motivating factors in this probe is to make sure we’re treating all the companies on a level playing field and not only investigating private corporations.”
State law provides for civil penalties of up to $70,000 per disposal of hazardous waste and up to $10,000 per disposal of medical waste. Rosen said the total amount of fines could add up to $1 billion, but the agreed upon penalty would likely be a smaller amount. Last year, Kaiser Permanente agreed to pay $49 million to settle claims the Oakland-based provider illegally dumped waste and sensitive patient information, after a joint effort by state Attorney General Rob Bonta and six district attorneys.
“Once the hospitals are in compliance, we will then have a discussion about fines, fees and penalties,” Rosen said.
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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