California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of February 7, 2014

Dignity Health, Sacramento

Dignity Health is considering plans to hand off its community health center to one of the federally qualified health centers in the area in order to attract more federal funding under the Affordable Care Act, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

WellSpace Health, Elica Health Centers and Health And Life Organization have expressed interest in the center (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 1/30).

Dignity Health Medical Foundation

On Feb. 1, Dignity Health Medical Foundation acquired the radiation oncology business owned by Radiological Associates of Sacramento, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

Dignity Health also will acquire the RAS building in which the practice is located (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 1/31).

Doctors Medical Center, San Pablo

Last week, the West Contra Costa Healthcare District board of directors approved a May vote-by-mail election to decide whether Doctors Medical Center can add a new parcel tax to raise revenue and stave off bankruptcy, the San Francisco Business Times' "Bay Area BizTalk" reports (Rauber, "Bay Area BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 1/31).

Doctors Medical Center -- the only public hospital in West Contra Costa County -- faces possible closure because of a projected $16 million budget deficit this year (California Healthline, 1/28).

The proposed tax would raise about $20 million annually, according to "Bay Area BizTalk" ("Bay Area BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 1/31).

Daughters of Charity Health System

On Jan. 31, Santa Clara County said it is considering purchasing two hospitals owned by the not-for-profit Daughters of Charity Health System, including O'Connor Hospitals in San Jose and Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, Mercury News reports.

Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian did not specify how much the hospitals would cost or how the city would pay for them. Separately, a DCHS spokesperson said the hospital chain would not "speculate on any potential buyers" (Seipel, Mercury News, 1/31).

John Muir Health

John Muir Health and San Ramon Regional Medical Center have finalized their $19-million purchase of a 92,000 square-foot building in Pleasanton, which the two organizations intend to renovate into a new outpatient medical center that will open in early 2015, the Contra Costa Times reports (Tsai, Contra Costa Times, 2/4).

The building was purchased from the State Compensation Insurance Fund, and the deal was part of a larger partnership forged in 2013 between San Ramon Regional's parent company Tenet Healthcare and John Muir (Rauber, "Bay Area BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 2/4).

San Francisco General Hospital

A CMS report found that nurses at San Francisco General Hospital failed to comply with orders to constantly observe a patient who went missing and was later found dead, AP/Modern Healthcare reports (AP/Modern Healthcare, 2/2).

The patient -- a 57-year-old woman -- was admitted to the hospital on Sept. 19, 2013, with an infection and was reported missing from her hospital room two days later. On Oct. 8, 2013, a member of the hospital's engineering staff found the woman's body in a hospital stairwell that was used as a fire escape (California Healthline, 1/31).

According to the CMS report, a doctor at the hospital on Sept. 19, 2013, said in writing that the patient should never be left unsupervised. However, the nurses' notes on the patient indicated that she was to be monitored with "close observation." The report determined that the patient was left unattended for 85 minutes prior to her disappearance (AP/Sacramento Bee, 2/2).

Sutter Health

On Feb. 1, Sutter Health completed its acquisition of Radiological Associates of Sacramento, and all of its 61 shareholders will join Sutter, the Journal reports.

RAS and Sutter declined to comment on the acquisitions, and Dignity Health did not disclose any financial terms (Sacramento Business Journal, 1/31).