MPTF Says It Improved Staff Training, Facilities After Patient’s Death

CEO Bob Beitcher says the organization exists to “take care of our own”

The Motion Picture and Television Fund said on Wednesday that it has taken steps to improve safety and staff training at its long-term care facility in response to a patient's death. 

This week, the MPTF was slapped with an $80,000 fine this week from the California Department of Health (CDPH), which cited the facility for failing to ensure an environment free of accident hazards and for inadequate supervision.

"The MPTF takes patient safety very seriously and deeply regrets the incident covered by the CDPH citation," Bob Beitcher, president and CEO of the MPTF, said in a statement to TheWrap.

Also read: MPTF Fined $80,000 in Patient's Mysterious Death

Beitcher said the MPTF begin taking steps to ensure that similar accidents did not take place again shortly after an investigation into the matter was concluded in December 2010. 

"Our corrective actions and remediation plan have been approved by the CDPH," Beitcher added."We exist to take care of our own and remain committed to executing this mission at a level of excellence."

Also read: MPTF Bows to Pressure, Will Begin Admitting New Patients to Long-Term Care Unit

Though the patient was not named in the citation, two individuals close to the situation told TheWrap that it was Carrie DeLay, an 89-year woman who fell to her death under mysterious circumstances in 2010.

The wheelchair-bound DeLay was found at the bottom of a staircase at the MPTF Woodland long-term care facility on October 17, 2010 after suffering a fall.

She died a week later.

Beitcher said that following the state's investigation, the MPTF hired an outside safety consultant and undertook extensive audits of its policies and procedures. It has also conducted additional staff training and made physical changes to its facility.

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