California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of January 15, 2016
Atascadero State Hospital
A former nurse at Atascadero State Hospital, which treats violent male criminal offenders with mental health issues, argues that the Department of State Hospitals failed to take action against a supervising psychiatric technician who discriminated against her and eventually retaliated following complaints, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reports.
Janet Ochotorena filed a lawsuit in October 2014, which now is playing out in a civil jury trial.
Ochotorena alleged that the supervisor took part in sex and gender discrimination, harassment and retaliation and claimed that DSH failed to take corrective action. DSH denied the allegations, arguing that Ochotorena has not proven any of the incidents happened, did not exhaust potential administrative remedies and failed to mitigate her own damages (Fountain, San Luis Obispo Tribune, 1/13).
Barton Health, South Lake Tahoe
Barton Health is the first health system to use Proteus' smart-pill technology in a non-clinical trial setting, Modern Healthcare reports.
The pill, which includes an ingestible sensor, allows patients to monitor drug adherence and can notify doctors if permitted by patients.
Barton Health initially is offering the pill to patients with high blood pressure (Rubenfire, Modern Healthcare, 1/11).
Marin General Hospital, Greenbrae
Marin General Hospital has entered into a 15-year deal with Royal Philips in which it will supply the facility with new medical technologies, Modern Healthcare reports.
Under the $90 million agreement, Royal Philips will provide equipment, such as imaging systems, patient monitoring, telehealth and clinical informatics tools. Further, the hospital will receive clinical education, consulting and design services (Castellucci, Modern Healthcare, 1/12).
Mission Hospital, Mission Viejo
Mission Hospital CEO Kenneth McFarland has announced he will step down, effective Feb. 5, the Los Angeles Times' "Coastline Pilot" reports.
McFarland has worked at the facility for 18 years and served as CEO since 2011. Richard Afable, former president and CEO of Hoag Hospital, has been named interim CEO (Alderton, "Coastline Pilot," Los Angeles Times, 1/14).
UC-San Diego Health System, Sharp HealthCare
UC-San Diego Health System has partnered with Sharp HealthCare to develop a joint liver transplant program, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Under the partnership, the number of liver transplants performed by UC-San Diego is expected to increase by at least 10 procedures annually (Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1/10).
Valley Medical Center, Santa Clara
The cost of building a renovated Valley Medical Center could reach $126 million, more than double the cost of initial projections, the San Francisco Business Times' "Real Estate INC." reports (Donato-Weinstein, "Real Estate INC.," San Francisco Business Times, 1/12).
The new facility, which is several years behind schedule, is slated to replace a seismically ineligible hospital next door (California Healthline, 11/20/15).
A report submitted to county officials in November 2015 cited "unacceptable delays" in the project and estimated the cost of the completed building to be between $108.4 million and $126 million. It noted that construction could be finished by April 10, 2017, under the best conditions ("Real Estate INC.," San Francisco Business Times, 1/12).
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