A children's hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, is apologizing after admitting it left a needle in a kid's heart.
State inspectors looked through Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital paperwork and determined doctors made the mistake a couple of years ago and did not tell the parents.
The child has since recovered.
It's not clear what penalties the hospital may now face, but it's received two citations.
The hospital released the following statement regarding their report:
Patient safety and providing the highest quality of care are foundational to our mission and the manner in which we care for children. We are sorry for anything less than an ideal outcome for any patient under our care. The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) conducted their annual routine survey on April 26-27, 2018 and cited the hospital twice, in reference to two cases from 2016. We will work with AHCA to get clarification about reporting requirements, and as matters are brought to our attention, we immediately begin a stringent internal process that includes both communication to our boards and appropriate parties as well as a review of our policies and procedures. This is exactly what happened in these situation and as result, we feel confident that these measures will ensure better care and better communications for our patients and families. All of which are fundamentally important to our mission.
We regret that these issues are being brought forward at this time. Thankfully, as recent news coverage shared, this child is doing well and for that we are grateful. What we learned as result, will now help us help other children as we return to our mission of providing leadership in child health through treatment, education, advocacy and research.