Hospital Admits Second Mistake

The same hospital where a surgeon amputated the wrong leg of a patient is acknowledging another mistake - less than two weeks later - that led to the death of a 77-year-old man.

Leo Alfonso died March 3 after a respiratory technician at University Community Hospital mistakenly removed his ventilator, hospital officials said.

Alfonso died less than an hour later, hospital spokesman John Andreas said Sunday.

The technician was supposed to have taken another patient off a ventilator, Andreas said.

The worker, who has been employed for 2 years, was suspended pending an investigation.

On Feb. 20, a surgeon at the hospital amputated a diabetic man’s left leg below the knee, though it was his right leg that was supposed to have been removed.