Los Angeles Hospital Faces Scrutiny

A Pasadena psychiatric hospital associated with TV’s Dr. Drew Pinsky is under investigation and stands to lose federal funding after a series of negligence incidents, including four patient deaths and one rape over the past several years. Aurora Las Encinas hospitals is one of the area’s higher-end facilities—it’s been known to charge up to $1,600 per night—and was known primarily for its affiliation with Pinsky, who is no longer involved with the hospital and refused to comment on the issue. “I was elated that he finally pulled his name because it will keep some people from going there, if not most,” said the parent of one patient who was found dead at the hospital in 2006 after staff failed to check on his breathing despite doctor’s orders to monitor him due to risky medication. The hospital’s chief executive left last fall and recently the nursing director followed suit amid findings that staff falsified records to show that patients had been adequately monitored. Hospital officials have promised to tighten regulations, and government officials now have license to inspect Aurora Las Encinas at random to check for violations.