California Healthline Highlights Recent Hospital News
Several newspapers recently published articles on issues at hospitals across the state. Summaries appear below.
The St. Rose Hospital Board of Directors has requested state approval of its plan to buy the hospital from current owner Via Christi Health System for about $22 million, according to documents filed with the Attorney General Bill Lockyer's (D) office, the East Bay Business Times reports. Lockyer has scheduled a hearing on the matter for July 6, with a decision expected several weeks later, according to St. Rose spokesperson Pamela Russo.
Via Christi has been trying to sell St. Rose for four years but has not found a buyer (Thomas, East Bay Business Times, 6/27).
Following a four-and-a-half month review of its construction plans, California Pacific Medical Center will proceed as originally planned with a project to build a 500-bed to 600-bed hospital at its Cathedral Hill site, the San Francisco Business Times reports. Hospital officials in January began considering design changes as a way of controlling "rapidly escalating construction costs," according to the Business Times.
Jim McCaughey, CPMC's vice president of planning and business development, said the project budget has not been significantly altered and that overall costs could still exceed $1 billion. The project is "still on track" for completion by the end of 2012, McCaughey said.
An environmental impact application for the project was filed earlier this month with the San Francisco Planning Department (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 6/27).