California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of December 12, 2014
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Colton
This week, hundreds of Arrowhead Regional Medical Center nurses with the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United went on a two-day strike over low wages and allegedly poor working conditions, the San Bernardino Sun reports.
As a result of the strike, which started Tuesday and ended Thursday, several patients had to be moved to different facilities for treatment (Steinberg, San Bernardino Sun, 12/10).
California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco
California Pacific Medical Center did not follow through with hiring and care access commitments it made as part of a $2 billion development plan with San Francisco according to a report by the city's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
According to the Chronicle, CPMC said in the agreement that it would hire 19 entry-level workers who had economically disadvantaged backgrounds in 2013 and that it would offer hospital and specialty care to 1,500 residents in a socioeconomically disadvantaged area in San Francisco. However, CPMC has only hired six such employees, according to the report (Lagos, San Francisco Chronicle, 12/10).
Mission Hospital, Laguna Beach
Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach has announced it will use a private, $10 million donation to improve its emergency department, the Orange County Register reports.
Specifically, the Mission Hospital Foundation said the hospital will use the donation to upgrade its facilities, emergency support services and imaging technologies (Swegles, Orange County Register, 12/9).
Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego
Rady Children's Hospital announced that it plans to build a pediatric care center in Murrieta, U-T San Diego reports.
The center, -- which will be called Rady Children's Health Services, -- will provide outpatient services for infants, children and teenagers. It is scheduled to open in 2017 (Figueroa, U-T San Diego, 12/4).
St. Joseph Health, Irvine
St. Joseph Health intends to settle with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve a four-year long investigation into the alleged overuse of implantable cardio-defibrillators, Modern Healthcare reports.
According to Modern Healthcare, DOJ had contacted the health system as part of its nationwide investigation into whether hospitals were charging Medicare for implanting the devices in patients who were not eligible for the procedure.
St. Joseph, which did not admit liability, said it expects to finalize the settlement in December. The size of the settlement has not been disclosed (Schencker, Modern Healthcare, 12/3).
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