Children's Hospital Oakland fined for safety violations

State regulators fined Children's Hospital Oakland $10,350 on Tuesday for safety violations that include inadequately protecting employees from violence in its emergency department. The hospital has had several dramatic incidents in recent months, noted the Cal-OSHA citation. In July, a 49-year-old gunman held a registered nurse and a ward clerk hostage before being subdued by police. No one was injured. In October, a gunshot victim was dropped off on hospital property within minutes of a second gunshot victim walking in and a third being carried there by bystanders. That occurred a year after three gunshot victims drove themselves to the front of the hospital in September 2009. Cal-OSHA faulted the hospital for not having adequate procedures for protecting employees as they respond to gunshot victims dropped off at hospital doors, and for not effectively training employees to deal with workplace violence.