California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of August 14, 2009
Coastside Family Medical Center, Half Moon Bay
Last week, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Dennis Montali ordered Coastside Family Medical Center's trustee to begin distributing medical files to clients who were active at the clinic when it closed in March, the San Mateo County Times reports.
The medical files will be available next month for a short period.
The judge gave the trustee permission to destroy inactive records (Scott, San Mateo County Times, 8/12).
Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
On Aug. 4, Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center reopened its rooftop helipad after officials installed filters over the facility's air intake system, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The helipad was closed on Feb. 6 after the Los Angeles Times inquired about reports of helicopter fumes leaking into the hospital's ventilation system.
Pete Delgado, the hospital's CEO, said the filters will likely need to be replaced every six months, depending on how quickly they are depleted (Lin, Los Angeles Times, 8/6).
Mercy Medical Center Merced
Through its parent company Catholic Healthcare West, Mercy Medical Center Merced is awarding $77,000 in community grants, the Merced Sun-Star reports.
The grants will go to projects focused on children's health, obesity and the health needs of homeless people.
Letters of intent to apply for the grants are due by Aug. 21, according to hospital spokesperson Robert McLaughlin (Reiter, Merced Sun-Star, 8/12).
Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital
August is the first full month that a new computerized medication management system will be in use at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, the Salinas Californian reports.
According to Medical Director David Perrott, the program currently is used nearly 99% of the time for inpatient care and soon will be implemented for outpatient care.
In addition, the information technology team and others aim to launch a program to allow doctors to file prescriptions electronically (Griffy, Salinas Californian, 8/6).
UC-Davis Health System
The UC-Davis Health System has named Truckee-based Tahoe Forest Health System as its first Rural Center of Excellence, giving it the distinction of being a new training site for UC-Davis medical students, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The award is part of a UC-Davis initiative to train more doctors to work with medically underserved people in rural areas (Wasserman, Sacramento Bee, 8/8).
Valley Health Systems
Almost all physicians who admit patients to Valley Health System's hospitals -- Hemet Valley Medical Center and Menifee Valley Medical Center -- have joined Physicians for Healthy Hospitals, the group that is negotiating a sale with the hospital district, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
The doctors' group has an exclusive 90-day agreement with the hospital district board to reach a deal (Hines, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 8/11).
In related news, Universal Health Services made an offer to buy Valley Health System for $25 million days after the exclusive agreement with Physicians for Healthy Hospitals was approved by the hospital district's board of directors in July, the Press-Enterprise reports.
Universal Health Services owns Southwest Healthcare Systems' two hospitals in Murrieta and Wildomar and Corona Regional Medical Center (Hines, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 8/10). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.