California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of April 10, 2015

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Oakland

Sutter Health will close its Alta Bates Summit Medical Center by Jan. 1, 2030, the Berkeley Daily Planet reports.

Alta Bates' Director of Public Affairs Stacey Wells said the health system will close the hospital after deciding not to revamp its campus to meet seismic standards by 2030, as required by state law (Smallsreed, Berkeley Daily Planet, 4/8).

Doctors Medical Center, San Pablo

Employees at Doctors Medical Center have started receiving pink slips as the hospital prepares to shut down by April 21, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle, 4/7).

In March, the West Contra Costa Healthcare District board voted to start closing the cash-strapped medical center, which has been struggling financially, in large part because of low reimbursement rates for Medicaid and Medicare patients (California Healthline, 3/27).

Riverside County Regional Medical Center

The Riverside County Regional Medical Center's board of supervisors has authorized an 8% increase in rates for various services offered at the hospital, the Banning-Beaumont Patch reports.

The rate increase likely will result in an additional $2.8 million in revenue over the next year, according to Huron Consulting (Schiavone, Banning-Beaumont Patch, 4/8).

Sutter Memorial Medical Center, Modesto

An administrative law judge has ruled that Sutter Memorial Medical Center violated the rights of its registered nurses who were attempting to affiliate with the California Nurses Association, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

In July 2014, CNA filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging the hospital officials coerced nurses to vote against unionization.

As a result of the ruling, NLRB has tossed the election results, setting the stage for another vote (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 4/3).