Clovis Community Medical Center was fined $100,000 in February for an “avoidable death” of a mother one week after giving birth. (Shutterstock)
- Community Medical Centers was fined $200,000 for what investigators said caused patient harm.
- In 2022, state investigators said Clovis Community staff did not identify deep-vein thrombosis in a patient, potentially causing her death.
- Surgeons at Community Regional Medical Center mistakenly removed a fallopian tube during a cesarean section, according to an investigation.
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Two Community Medical Centers’ hospitals were forced to pay nearly $200,000 in 2025 for penalties related to patient harm and death, Merced Sun-Star reported Monday.
Clovis Community Medical Center was fined $100,000 in February for an “immediate jeopardy” related to the avoidable death of a mother one week after giving birth in 2022.
Community Regional Medical Center had to pay $90,000 when staff wrongfully removed a fallopian tube from a patient during a cesarean section.
Clovis Community failed to identify the mother as at-risk for deep vein thrombosis before they discharged her in 2022, according to a California Department of Public Health investigation. The condition stems from blood clots forming in one or more deep veins in the body, usually the legs.
The hospital’s failure to rule out the possibility of DVT before discharging her may have contributed to the patient’s “avoidable death,” investigators concluded.
Patient Did Not Show Other Symptoms of Deep Vein Thrombosis
The patient came to Clovis Community’s emergency department for a labor check at 38 weeks, delivering the baby two days later, Merced Sun-Star reports.
Following delivery, the hospital discharged the patient, who experienced weakness and numbness in her right leg.
The OB-GYN doctor didn’t run tests because the patient didn’t have other common symptoms associated with DVT, Merced Sun-Star reported.
Six days later, the patient returned after experiencing calf pain and upper leg pain. She died within an hour due to cardiac arrest following a pulmonary embolism — a blood clot that blocks the vessels that send blood to the lungs, according to Merced Sun-Star.
“Looking back, we could have done a doppler ultrasound to [the patient’s] leg to determine if she had DVT and administered enoxaparnin,” Clovis Community’s OBGYN chief at the time said. Enoxaparnin is the generic medicine to prevent blood clots.
Community has completed a comprehensive review, strengthened safety protocols and training, and shared those actions with the CDPH, Thomas Utecht, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical officer for Community Health System said in a statement.
