MADISON, Wis. -- A St. Mary's Hospital staff member is on administrative leave in connection with the accidental death of a 16-year-old girl there.

Local and state investigations are under way into why and how Verona High School student Jasmine Gant died at St. Mary's last Wednesday, WISC-TV reported.

Alice Howard, Gant's family chaplain, said that family members told her that the teen died during the delivery of a baby after allegedly being given the wrong drug.

State officials are investigating a potential case of caregiver misconduct.

St. Mary's said that, as with any such investigation, the staffer is getting paid but is not working.

A local patient safety group that includes all four Madison hospitals called the accidental death "devastating," but a representative said the group's members are constantly trying to improve safety, including preventing medication errors.

Kendra Jacobsen, an administrator with the Madison Patient Safety Collaborative, said the hospitals and three major HMO groups have been working together to increase safety measures since 2000.

Jacobsen said the local hospitals partly rely on the technology, including bar code systems, as part of the entire process to prevent medication errors.

The scanning system, called Accu-Scan, is in place throughout the UW Hospitals and Clinics to make sure the right drug gets to the right patient. Other hospitals use different systems.

"More and more, people are looking to technology to help the process. Of course we know that humans have to interact with the technology, and we know that technology isn't going to solve everything, but we are really looking at the different systems that are available," Jacobsen said.

The group also works to implement medication error goals set by a federal accreditation group.

Already, all Madison hospitals have moved some dangerous drugs from floor units to pharmacies.

They are now working to better track all of the drugs patients are taking when they get admitted and when they leave, WISC-TV reported.