California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of March 14, 2014

Children's Hospital Oakland

On Wednesday, state health investigators in a report concluded that Children's Hospital Oakland adequately complied with medical regulatory standards in the case of a 13-year-old patient who was declared brain dead, the Contra Costa Times reports (Gafni, Contra Costa Times, 3/13). 

Jahi McMath was declared brain dead on Dec. 12, 2013, three days after she had tonsil surgery to help her with sleep apnea. In January, Children's Hospital Oakland released custody of the body to McMath's family, who contended that the girl still was alive (California Healthline, 1/9).

The report did not find any deficiencies in the hospital's quality of care, but it did find that the hospital failed to complete the preoperative checklist or failed to include patient histories and physicals in their electronic health records prior to surgery in eight cases.

The hospital voluntarily submitted a plan of correction for those deficiencies on March 5 (Contra Costa Times, 3/13).

Marina Del Rey Hospital

On Thursday, Marina Del Rey Hospital announced that it finalized a contract with the California Nurses Association that includes the ability to increase wages and award retention bonuses, according to a release from the hospital. The contract also includes training programs and continuing education for nurses at the facility (Marina Del Rey Hospital release, 3/13).

Mission Hospital, Mission Viejo

Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo is on track to complete construction on the $22 million surgical floor of its new Neuroscience and Spine Institute this fall, the Orange County Register reports. The surgical floor marks the final component of the institute, which originally opened in November 2009 and cost a total of about $165 million.

The new surgical floor will feature three surgical operating rooms, eight private pre- and post-operation recovery rooms and a dedicated staff of nurses. The operating rooms also will include video-conferencing technology (Nicolai, Orange County Register, 3/6).

St. Joseph Health

Last month, an employee at St. Joseph Health improperly emailed the protected health information of about 11,800 home health patients to a health care investment firm, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports. The data included patient names, codes, referral sources and types, admission dates and statuses, and the medical unit providing treatment.

St. Joseph Health said staff involved with the data breach will undergo privacy compliance training (Espinoza, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 3/7).

Sutter Health

Last week, Sutter Health announced a $22 million operating loss for 2013 -- a steep drop from the health system's operating revenue of $549 million in 2012 and the first time the system has recorded an operating loss since 1999, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

Sutter Health recorded a 1% increase in operating revenue, reaching about $9.65 billion, but its operating loss also increased by 7%, reaching a total of $9.67 billion (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 3/6). Overall, the health system in 2013 garnered $300 million in net income, down from the $735 million earned in 2012 (Glover, Sacramento Bee, 3/6).