Simmons Prepared Foods said the products, which were distributed to eight states, might contain metal, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Arkansas, California, and Michigan.
- Arkansas: Simmons Prepared Foods recalled more than two million pounds of chicken products after it determined the products may have been contaminated with metal. The products, which were produced between Oct. 21 and Nov. 4, were shipped to eight states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week recommended that consumers and businesses throw the products away or return them to the place of purchase. According to USDA, Simmons did not reveal the type of metal found in the chicken products (Garcia, New York Times, 11/7).
- California: Sutter Sana Rosa Regional Hospital and Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa reopened this month after wildfires forced the hospitals to evacuate. Sutter's hospital evacuated about 90 patients due to the wildfire and Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa transferred 110 patients to other facilities. Sutter, which had been closed for nine days, resumed inpatient and emergency services on Nov. 5 and resumed elective surgeries on Nov. 6. Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa reopened on Nov. 2 (Paavola, Becker's Hospital Review, 11/6).
- Michigan: About a dozen students from the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine this month held a teddy bear clinic for patients at Beaumont Children's Hospital. During the clinic, the medical students helped the patients treat their sick or injured stuffed animals, some of which needed IVs, X-rays, and casts. Amanda Lefkof, a child life specialist at Beaumont Children's, said the clinic provided "the kids an opportunity to have a kind of control over their experience" (Modern Healthcare, 11/9).