The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) fined Mount Nittany Medical Center $17,500 in connection with four instances in which the hospital violated state radiation protection regulations, a DEP spokeswoman said Monday.
DEP spokeswoman Lauri Lebo said the Pennsylvania DEP received three written notifications of medical reportable events from Mount Nittany Medical Center during a 12-month period, for which the hospital was fined $13,750.
On May 14, 2007, a radiation therapist did not properly identify a patient scheduled to receive a radiation dose and the dose was therefore inadvertently delivered to the wrong person, Lebo said.
In an Aug. 19, 2007 incident, a therapist incorrectly positioned a patient on the table, delivering the dose of radiation to the wrong part of that person's body, Lebo said.
In another incident that occurred between Feb. 27 and March 5, 2008, a therapist delivered a dose of radiation to the wrong part of a patient's body, Lebo said.
The medical center was also fined $3,750 for contract workers having access to the roof of the oncology building while the medical accelerator was on and therefore possibly exposing the contract workers to radiation, Lebo said, adding regulations require that an area exposed to radiation be marked.
Lebo said the incidents do not pose any health risks to the people involved.
"It's never good to be exposed to radiation when you don't need to be, but it doesn't necessarily mean that there was any damage done," she said. "The reports we received said the errors did not result in any exposure to any radio-sensitive organs."
Lebo said Mount Nittany Medical Center has paid its fine and is taking corrective actions.
"They have clearly indicated their willingness to fix the problems that led to this in the first place, so we're fairly optimistic that this won't be a problem in the future," Lebo said.
Lebo said the DEP does not have any records of this type of incident occurring at the hospital in the past.
Tom Stoessel, the director of communications at Mount Nittany Medical Center, said the hospital is in the process of hiring a radiation oncology supervisor "to provide real-time oversight of the technologists who are providing care," which will provide a "second layer of check."
Stoessel said the hospital will also take corrective action by enhancing educational and training programs.
He added one technologist involved in two of the violations is no longer employed by the hospital.
Lebo said the DEP will monitor the corrective actions and will increase the frequency of inspections on the hospital, performing inspections every six months, rather than once a year, until two consecutive clean inspections are done.
Stoessel said he does not expect the violations to affect the hospital's reputation.
"Although the Medical Center is being fined, there is no amount of money that can compensate for the safety of our patients and the quality of our care," Stoessel wrote in an e-mail statement. "As always, we will continue to evaluate our policies and procedures to ensure that our patients are receiving the finest care every day."
Collegian Staff Writer Alex Weisler contributed to this report.
