Veterinary Medical Board Citation
On February 4, 2022 the TriCity Veterinary Hospital was issued a citation by the Veterinary Medical Board, Department of Consumer Affairs of the State of California. The total penalty for all of the violations was $15,750. However, the Board is only allowed to issue a maximum fine of $5,000.
The Citation lists six separate violations
(items 11-16 in the citation) that were found in an inspection in October of 2018. In a subsequent investigation in July of 2019 all six violations had not been corrected. In another subsequent inspection in May of 2021, five of the six violations still had not be corrected. The violations are:
- All animal cages were deemed unsanitary. They all had “rusted drain grates, broken tiles with sharp edges and chewed corners, and exposed, unsealed wood on the walls“.
- The surgery suite was deemed unsanitary. It had “visible debris and dirt on the floor, a thick dark substance around the entry way on the floor and lower wall, and rusted steel door frames that cannot be adequately cleaned or sanitized“.
- The facility failed to have an assortment of endotracheal tubes readily available. Those that were available were unclean and stored in a disorganized drawer.
- The facility failed to properly maintain the anesthetic equipment. (This was the only item that was found to have been corrected in the third inspection in 2021.)
- The facility failed to have all expired non-controlled drugs disposed of in accordance with the local medical waste management agency. In addition, the facility had misbranded drug vials and some drug vials were missing labels.
- The facility failed to ensure that their drug logs complied with state and federal laws. The drug logs were missing header information including drug name, strength, form, and schedule. Drug names were listed under “Amount Dispensed or Administered” and the logs failed to identify who administered the drug.
