California Healthline Highlights Recent Hospital News
A Superior Court judge earlier this month dismissed a lawsuit filed by the city of Palmdale alleging that Antelope Valley Hospital did not conduct an environmental study of the site on which a Universal Health Services hospital is being built, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
Judge David Yaffe wrote that the city's arguments in the case "are so disingenuous as to strongly suggest that it is not remotely connected with any concern ... about the environmental impact of constructing a hospital on the site." Yaffe said he "strongly suspects that this lawsuit is being maintained for economic, not environmental reasons."
Hospital district officials have voiced concern that a competing, privately owned hospital would attract insured patients and leave Antelope Valley Hospital to care for a large proportion of low-income and uninsured residents. The city has filed four lawsuits against the hospital, two of which have now been dismissed (Maeshiro, Los Angeles Daily News, 5/25).
Madera County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously voted to allow the county to act as a conduit for Children's Hospital Central California to obtain $40 million in federal funding, the Fresno Bee reports. The money will be used to fund an expansion and renovation of the hospital.
Under IRS rules, such an arrangement is necessary for a private, not-for-profit corporation to qualify for tax-exempt financing (McCarthy, Fresno Bee, 5/24).
Fresno County supervisors voted to pursue a three-year agreement that could provide an additional $9 million in federal funds for Community Medical Centers, the Fresno Bee reports.
Under the agreement, the county would deposit the $18 million annual fee it pays Community for services into a state Private Hospital Supplemental Fund on Community's behalf. Community estimates it would recover about $27 million, including federal funds.
County Auditor and Controller Vicki Crow said the estimated cost of borrowing the $18 million would be about $350,000 annually.
A formal agreement is expected before June 13 (Correa, Fresno Bee, 5/24).
Service Employees International Union officials representing workers at Riverside Community Hospital are requesting that an independent arbiter familiar with the hospital industry review proposed staffing changes during contract negotiations, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. The contract expires July 1.
The union says that the hospital is understaffed, especially after 32 positions were eliminated in 2003. The union also is asking for higher wages and expanded benefits.
Administrators at the hospital oppose the use of an arbiter, according to Tracy Dallarda, hospital vice president of marketing and public relations (Kawar, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 5/22).
San Mateo County nurses, most of whom work at San Mateo Medical Center, voted to ratify a contract with the county on Wednesday that includes raises for nurses, the Oakland Tribune reports. The deal will cost the county about $4.5 million more than the 3% wage increase county officials had proposed.
The contract will ensure the county maintains required nurse-to-patient staffing ratios and creates a plan to reduce injuries caused by lifting patients (Ernde, Oakland Tribune, 5/25).
KPBS' "KPBS News" on Monday reported on Proposition G, a $247 million bond measure in east San Diego County that would fund upgrades at Sharp Grossmont Hospital. According to KPBS, Proposition G would add about $41 to the average home owner's annual property tax bill.
The KPBS segment includes comments from Sandy Pugliese, spokesperson for Grossmont (Goldberg, "KPBS News," KPBS, 5/22).
The complete transcript is available online. The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
KPBS' "KPBS News" on Thursday reported on the upcoming vote on Proposition F, a $596 million general bond measure to fund expansion and seismic upgrades at Tri-City Medical Center (Goldberg, "KPBS News," KPBS, 5/25).
The bond would be used to renovate one-third of the existing hospitals and build new facilities to comply with state seismic safety standards by 2013. The measure would levy a 30-year property tax on all property parcels in the health care district. A two-thirds vote is needed to approve the bond (California Healthline, 5/19).
The KPBS segment includes comments from Tri-City CEO Art Gonzalez ("KPBS News," KPBS, 5/25).
The complete transcript is available online. The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.