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Who runs Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and which deadline applies
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is run by Los Angeles County, a public entity. Before you can sue the county over care there, you generally must present a written government claim within six months after the injury (Government Code 911.2). If that deadline passes, you can ask for permission to file a late claim, but no later than one year after the injury (Government Code 911.4). Our page on claims against county hospitals explains the steps.
Many doctors who work in hospitals, including emergency physicians and radiologists, are independent contractors rather than hospital employees. A hospital can still be responsible for their mistakes when the patient looked to the hospital for care and was not told the doctor was not its employee (Mejia v. Community Hospital of San Bernardino), and a hospital has its own duty to use reasonable care in deciding which doctors may practice there (Elam v. College Park Hospital).
State health department records, 2023 to 2026
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) lists 217 complaints and facility-reported incidents for Harbor-UCLA Medical Center from 2023 through 2026 in its Cal Health Find ↗ database: 101 complaints from the public and 116 incidents the hospital reported itself. CDPH marked 66 of them “substantiated with deficiencies,” meaning the department substantiated the allegation and cited the hospital for not meeting at least one requirement.
| Year | Complaints and incidents |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 64 |
| 2024 | 96 |
| 2025 | 42 |
| 2026 | 15 |
| Category | All | Substantiated with deficiencies |
|---|---|---|
| State Monitoring | 106 | 36 |
| Resident/Patient/Client Rights | 42 | 9 |
| Quality of Care/Treatment | 40 | 12 |
| Admission, Transfer & Discharge Rights | 8 | 1 |
| Resident/Patient/Client Abuse | 6 | 2 |
| Nursing Services | 4 | 0 |
| Infection Control | 4 | 1 |
| Other | 4 | 4 |
| Dietary Services | 1 | 0 |
| Resident/Patient/Client Neglect | 1 | 0 |
State penalties
CDPH lists 3 enforcement actions against Harbor-UCLA Medical Center since 2023. A “failure to report” penalty is for not reporting a listed adverse event to the state on time (HSC 1279.1). Section 1280.15 penalties are for breaches of patients’ medical information.
| Issued | Type | Section | Category | Penalty | Appealed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04/14/2023 | Failure to Report Penalty | Informed 1279.1(b)(1)(D) T22 DIV5 CH1 ART3-70203(a)(2) | AE04 – Retention of a foreign object in a patient | $900 | No |
| 04/05/2023 | Failure to Report Penalty | Informed 1279.1(b)(1)(D) | AE04 – Retention of a foreign object in a patient | $400 | No |
| 03/04/2025 | Administrative Penalty | 1280.15(a) | Deliberate breach of PHI by health care worker | $20,000 | No |
Inspection findings
These are the most recent CDPH inspections of Harbor-UCLA Medical Center that ended with at least one cited deficiency, with the requirement each one cited, as listed in Cal Health Find ↗. A citation means inspectors found the hospital did not meet that requirement on that visit.
- 09/01/2026 (Certification): Patient rights: grievances; Patient rights: informed consent
- 06/02/2026 (Certification): Patient rights: care in safe setting
- 03/16/2026 (Certification): Infection control program
- 01/22/2026 (Certification): Safety policy and procedures
- 08/06/2025 (Certification): Integration of emergency services
- 03/05/2025 (Certification): Patient rights: care in safe setting; Patient rights: informed consent
- 10/28/2024 (Certification): Patient rights: restraint or seclusion
- 10/17/2024 (Certification): Administration of drugs; Rn supervision of nursing care
- 08/29/2024 (Complaint): Appropriate transfer; Compliance with 489.24; Stabilizing treatment
- 08/29/2024 (Certification): Patient rights: grievance review time frames; Rn supervision of nursing care; Supervision of contract staff
Medicare quality data
Medicare publishes quality measures for Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on Care Compare ↗. Infection results are standardized infection ratios compared with a national benchmark (Medicare infection data), and the sepsis figure is the SEP-1 measure (Medicare timely and effective care data).
- Overall Medicare star rating: 1 out of 5.
- Central line bloodstream infections: No Different than National Benchmark (ratio 1.458, 10/01/2024 to 09/30/2025)
- Catheter urinary tract infections: No Different than National Benchmark (ratio 1.138, 10/01/2024 to 09/30/2025)
- Surgical site infections, colon surgery: No Different than National Benchmark (ratio 1.093, 10/01/2024 to 09/30/2025)
- MRSA bloodstream infections: No Different than National Benchmark (ratio 0.312, 10/01/2024 to 09/30/2025)
- C. difficile infections: Better than the National Benchmark (ratio 0.418, 10/01/2024 to 09/30/2025)
- Patient safety and adverse events composite (PSI 90): Worse Than the National Value (07/01/2022 to 06/30/2024)
- Pressure ulcer rate (PSI 03): No Different Than the National Rate (07/01/2022 to 06/30/2024)
- Deaths among surgical patients with serious treatable complications (PSI 04): No Different Than the National Rate (07/01/2022 to 06/30/2024)
- Severe sepsis and septic shock patients who received appropriate care (SEP-1): 51% of 176 patients, 10/01/2024 to 09/30/2025.
- Median time in the emergency department before leaving: 313 minutes.
- Medicare Hospital-Acquired Condition payment reduction (fiscal year 2026): Yes.
Records like these show what regulators found. They do not decide whether a particular patient’s care was negligent; that depends on the patient’s own records and on testimony from medical witnesses about the standard of care.
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What to do if you were hurt at this hospital
Ask for your complete records in writing. California patients and their representatives can inspect records within 5 working days of a written request and get copies within 15 days (Health and Safety Code 123110). Write down dates, names and what you were told while you still remember. Do not sign anything from the hospital’s insurer before talking to a lawyer.
Common hospital claims include missed sepsis, a stroke missed in the emergency room, medication errors, objects left after surgery, bed sores and deaths. Hospitals must report some serious events to the state, such as surgery on the wrong body part, a foreign object left after surgery and a stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcer acquired after admission (Health and Safety Code 1279.1).
Michael Shemtoub founded Beverly Law in 2008 and has been licensed to practice law in California since 2007. He earned his law degree at UC Hastings, is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Central and Northern Districts of California, and has tried cases to verdict. As the firm’s managing attorney, he oversees its cases.
Common questions
Can I sue Harbor-UCLA Medical Center for medical malpractice?
Yes, but Harbor-UCLA Medical Center is a Los Angeles County hospital, so you generally must present a written government claim to the county within six months of the injury before you can sue. A late-claim application is possible up to one year after the injury.
How long do I have to file a claim against Harbor-UCLA Medical Center?
For Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, a written government claim is generally due within six months of the injury. Deadlines can be shorter or longer depending on when you discovered the injury, whether the patient is a child, and whether the patient died, so it is worth asking a lawyer early.
Where can I see Harbor-UCLA Medical Center’s inspection records?
The California Department of Public Health posts complaints, facility-reported incidents, inspection findings and penalties for Harbor-UCLA Medical Center on Cal Health Find, and Medicare posts its quality measures on Care Compare. This page links to both and summarizes 2023 through 2026.
Is Harbor-UCLA Medical Center responsible for mistakes by its emergency room doctors?
It can be. Many hospital doctors are independent contractors, but California courts hold a hospital responsible for a contractor doctor’s negligence when the patient looked to the hospital for care and was not told the doctor was not a hospital employee.
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Harbor-UCLA Medical Center malpractice lawyer — Beverly Law
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Related pages
Los Angeles County hospital records · California Medical Malpractice Statute of Limitations · Sent Home From the ER and Got Worse · Hospital Missed Sepsis in California
Sources
- California Department of Public Health, Cal Health Find: Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
- Medicare Care Compare: Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
- Government Code 911.2 (six-month claim)
- Government Code 911.4 (late claim)
- Mejia v. Community Hospital of San Bernardino (2002) 99 Cal.App.4th 1448
- Elam v. College Park Hospital (1982) 132 Cal.App.3d 332
- Health and Safety Code 1279.1 (adverse event reporting)
- Medicare Care Compare data: Healthcare Associated Infections – Hospital
- Medicare Care Compare data: Timely and Effective Care – Hospital
- Health and Safety Code 123110 (patient access to records)
Important: This page is general information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Deadlines and damage limits depend on the facts of each case; talk to a lawyer about yours. MICRA amounts are for judgments, awards and settlements in 2026. Last reviewed: November 5, 2026.