For the second year in a row, Porter Hospital reported no medical errors in 2008, as part of an annual report required by the Indiana State Department of Health.

Meanwhile, Memorial Hospital of South Bend, which is planning a new hospital in Valparaiso, reported one medical error in 2008, for a surgery performed on the wrong body part. In last year’s report, Memorial reported two errors.

The state Department of Health last week released the annual report of the Medical Error Reporting System (MERS), which includes reported events in calendar year 2008. Statewide, 105 medical errors were reported, with 99 events occurring at hospitals and six events occurring at ambulatory surgery centers. Last year, 101 errors were reported at hospitals and four at ambulatory surgery centers.

For at least the second year in a row, no errors were reported at the state’s nine abortion clinics or four birthing centers.

In the state report, Porter hospital reported no medical errors in its 13,676 inpatient discharges, 142,769 outpatient visits, and 21,076 procedures during the year.

Other errors reported for 2008 by hospitals in Lake County were:

*St. Catherine Hospital, East Chicago: One medical error reported for surgery on a wrong body part. (One error reported last year.)

*St. Margaret’s Hospital, Hammond: Two errors reported, one of which was for a surgery on a wrong body part and the other one involving death or disability due to a fall (No medical errors reported last year).

*Community Hospital, Munster: One error reported for a death associated with a fall. (One error reported last year).

*Methodist Hospital, Gary: One error reported for a death or disability associated with a patient elopement. (Three errors reported last year).

*Regency, East Chicago: Four errors reported, all for pressure ulcers (Three errors reported last year).

*Select Specialty Hospital, Hammond: One error reported for death or disability due to a medication error (No errors reported last year).

No errors were reported in LaPorte County hospitals for 2008. The year before, LaPorte Hospital reported one error.

The full 2008 MERS report is available online at www.statehealth.in.gov

 Click on “Medical Errors Reporting System.”

Posted 8/26/2009