California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of Feb. 1, 2008
Oak Valley Hospital officials increased the estimated cost of replacing the facility to $63 million, the Modesto Bee reports. The initial estimated cost of the project was $60 million in 2004.
Officials say the new figure still is not enough to cover the construction costs.
They will meet next week to decide who will build the new facility and how they will pay for the remainder of the project, which is in the second of three planning phases.
Construction of the new hospital is set to begin in the next few weeks, with completion slated for 2009 (Hightower, Modesto Bee, 1/29).
Since its merger with Community Memorial Hospital three years ago, Ojai Valley Community Hospital has boosted its bottom line, updated its radiology services and is set to expand its emergency department, the Ventura County Star reports.
Last month, the hospital installed a picture archiving and communication system to modernize its radiology department and improve X-rays and CT scans. Later this year, the hospital has planned a $1.5 million ED expansion that will double the number of beds and quadruple the department overall.
The hospital also is in the planning stages of a renovation project to meet state building standards for earthquake safety, according to an official (Klampe, Ventura County Star, 1/30).
St. Joseph's Medical Center has awarded more than $130,000 in community-benefit grants to six not-for-profit health and human services organizations in San Joaquin County, the Stockton Record reports.
Sister Abby Newton, the hospital's vice president for mission integration, said this year's round of grants focused on:
- Childhood obesity;
- Chronic disease such as diabetes and asthma;
- Access to health care; and
- Mental health care services for youth.
The individual awards ranged from $14,000 to $25,000 (Goldeen, Stockton Record, 1/28).
Tenet Healthcare announced a contract agreement last week with Blue Cross of California, effective Feb. 1, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Nick Garcia, Blue Cross spokesperson, said the contract will last four years.
Under the agreement, members of Blue Cross's managed care plans will retain access to Tenet's 16 acute-care hospitals in California, as well as a specialty hospital and outpatient services, according to Tenet (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 1/25).
UCSD Medical Center has received a grant to expand a pilot project that provides follow-up care for uninsured patients treated at the hospital's ED, KPBS' "KPBS News" reports. The project aims to reduce the number of patients who use EDs for primary care.
UCSD launched the project with San Diego Family Care community clinics last year. The new phase of the project will expand the program to more clinics and allow the hospital to share medical records with the clinics (Goldberg, "KPBS News," KPBS, 1/28).