California Healthline Highlights Recent Hospital News
Clovis Community Medical Center in Fresno this week announced that it will use a second $1 million contribution from the Radin Foundation to expand services at its Marjorie E. Radin Breast Care Center, the Fresno Bee reports.
The donation from the local philanthropic organization will help increase patient services and improve technology and equipment, a hospital spokesperson said.
Since opening in May, the breast care facility has performed more than 2,250 mammograms for central San Joaquin Valley patients (Correa, Fresno Bee, 11/28).
Board members of Doctors Medical Center on Tuesday proposed a policy to control executive spending, the Contra Costa Times reports.
New rules were proposed in response to a Contra Costa Times article last week that detailed purchases -- including meals and gifts for board members -- by hospital executives that were made while the facility was near bankruptcy.
The proposed policy seeks to:
- Discontinue extended stays at conferences;
- Prohibit reimbursement for alcohol purchases; and
- Prohibit using district funds for gifts other than recognition awards that cost less than $25.
The board on Dec. 7 will vote on the proposal (Huff, Contra Costa Times, 11/28).
John Muir Health and Blue Cross of California on Thursday reached a two-year agreement on new rates and contract terms, the Contra Costa Times reports. The current contract was expected to terminate Thursday at midnight.
Approximately 36,500 Blue Cross members are patients of John Muir hospital in Walnut Creek and Concord.
Details of the new contract have not been released (Avalos, Contra Costa Times, 12/1).
Paradise Valley Hospital in National City on Thursday terminated its contract with Molina Healthcare, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The HMO had 9,400 members who were patients of the hospital, most of them Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
The hospital also has informed at least three other HMOs that their contracts will be canceled unless they agree to pay higher hospital fees. HMOs that refuse will risk being charged a costly fee if a policyholder is treated in the emergency department.
Prime Healthcare, a for-profit company, plans to purchase the hospital from the not-for-profit Adventist Healthcare. The company's owner, Prim Reddy, commonly cancels HMO contracts and renegotiates deals that charge higher fees (Darcé, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12/1).
The Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense have established the first free-standing outpatient clinic for military families in San Diego County, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The clinic consists of a pharmacy building and a main building with 10 examination rooms and two treatment rooms. The clinic is located in the Santee Town Center shopping complex.
The clinic was built to prevent patients from having to travel to the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, which is the busiest military hospital in the country (Perry, Los Angeles Times, 11/29).
Nurses employed at USC University Hospital in Los Angeles on Thursday voted to join the state's two nurse unions, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Approximately one-quarter of the California's 300,000 registered nurses are represented by either the California Nurses Association or the Service Employees International Union.
The unions have increased enrollment as the state's nursing shortage increases. Enrollment in CNA has doubled to 65,000 members over the last decade, according to a spokesperson (Yi, Los Angeles Times, 12/1).