California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of February 18, 2011
Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula
The American College of Radiology has designated the Breast Care Center at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence, the Monterey County Herald reports.
Steven Packer, Community Hospital president and CEO, said only 41 centers in the state have received the designation.
Centers must earn accreditation in mammography, breast ultrasound and stereotactic breast biopsy to receive the recognition (Monterey County Herald, 2/16).
Dominican Hospital, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz County officials plan to spend $11 million to move a 25-bed mental health center at Dominican Hospital less than a mile down the road, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports.
The move is triggered by the hospital's need to possibly move a rehabilitation center out of an existing building that does not comply with California seismic standards.
The state has given the hospital until next summer to act (Hoppin, Santa Cruz Sentinel, 2/12).
Kaiser Permanente-Los Angeles Medical Center
Hundreds of Kaiser Permanente nurses at the system's Los Angeles Medical Center are preparing to call the first nursing strike at the hospital in more than 20 years, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
The National Union of Healthcare Workers represents 1,100 nurses at the facility and must provide the hospital with 10 days' notice before a strike.
The nurses are protesting what they deem inadequate staffing levels.
Jim Anderson, a spokesperson for Kaiser, said a collective-bargaining meeting is scheduled for next week (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 2/15).
Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Sylmar
On Monday, the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center held a ceremonial opening for its $53 million, 32,000 square-foot emergency department expansion, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
The 51-bed facility will provide two beds for critical care patients.
The ED will officially open March 6, and officials estimate the expansion will allow the hospital to see 8,000 to 10,000 more patients annually (Abram, Los Angeles Daily News, 2/14).
Riverside Community Hospital
Riverside Community Hospital and Service Employees International Union Local 121RN, which represents nurses at the hospital, have reached an agreement on several issues but still have not settled all contract terms, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
The union has been without a contract for more than 10 months and recently went on strike for five days.
A mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service's Los Angeles office is facilitating the ongoing negotiations (Katzanek, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 2/12).
Southwest Healthcare System
Two hospitals operated by Southwest Healthcare System have opened $90 million emergency department and delivery room expansions, ending two years of delays, the Press-Enterprise reports.
The expansions of Rancho Springs Medical Center in Murrieta and Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar have been ready since January 2009. However, the California Department of Public Health was deciding whether to remove the health system's operating license because the hospitals have accrued dozens of citations and more than $300,000 in fines for patient care violations (Hill, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 2/11).
UC-San Francisco Osher Center for Integrative Medicine
The $37 million Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UC-San Francisco has opened to provide meditation, acupuncture and other integrative medicine services, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Construction on the 48,000 square-foot facility started in April 2009 and ended last October (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 2/16).
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