Fresno hospital fined after gauze sponge left inside patient

Five California hospitals, including one in Fresno, were fined by the California Department of Public Health on Thursday for issues surrounding patient care.

Fresno Heart and Surgical Hospital was fined nearly $43,000 after it failed to ensure the health and safety of a patient when it did not follow established policies and procedures.

The Department of Public Health says the hospital failed to follow operating room policy and procedure when their staff failed to use a bucket for a gauze sponge during a procedure on a patient.

This resulted in a gauze sponge being left inside the surgical site of the patient.

When the patient went back to the hospital 27 days later for a second surgery, according to documents, a "surgical gauze sponge was identified as a retained foreign object."