California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of July 23, 2010
A. Richard Grossman Burn Center, West Hills
On July 16, the Grossman Burn Center, which previously was located in Sherman Oaks, reopened in a $3 million, 13,500 square-foot facility at the West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
The new facility, which was built inside West Hills' former intensive care unit, has space for 39 beds, including eight private rooms for burn patients.
The facility includes Grossman's national headquarters and will be served by 10 doctors and 34 nurses and staff members (Bartholomew, Los Angeles Daily News, 7/17).
Eden Medical Center, Castro Valley
On July 16, George Bischalaney, president and CEO of Eden Medical Center, announced that a lawsuit seeking to halt Eden Medical Center's rebuilding project has been dismissed in Alameda County Superior Court, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
In messages posted online, Bischalaney said that Judge Frank Roesch signed the court document on June 28 denying the California Nurses Association's petition to stop the $320 million rebuilding project (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 7/16). The petition contended that the hospital project's environmental impact report was not filled out properly and failed to incorporate traffic, ground and water contamination concerns.
The new facility -- to be named Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley -- will be 230,000 square feet and will include 130 beds (Noceda, Oakland Tribune, 7/19).
La Clinica, Oakley
The Oakland-based not-for-profit group La Clinica is preparing to sign a lease on a Cypress Square Plaza location where it plans to build a clinic to offer prenatal care, referrals to specialists and other medical services, the Contra Costa Times reports.
The clinic will offer services on a sliding fee scale and aims to help low-income patients access state and federal health care funds. The city has agreed to guarantee the lease, and several medical providers have made funding commitments (Dreier, Contra Costa Times, 7/21).
Mee Memorial Hospital, King City
Mee Memorial Hospital has joined UC-Davis School of Medicine's rural physician training program, also known as Rural-PRIME, the Salinas Californian reports.
The program aims to train students for a career in primary care medicine in rural settings. Twelve UC-Davis students will be accepted into the program annually and rotate among participating sites (Zentz, Salinas Californian, 7/19).
Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital
Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System has announced that 74 of its nonunion employees recently accepted buyout offers to help Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital reduce its spending by $4 million, the Salinas Californian reports. In 2009, the hospital reported a $5 million profit, down from $10 million in 2008.
The employees who accepted buyout offers received a check for a certain number of weeks of salary based on tenure and unused paid vacation or medical leave. The employees also are eligible for unemployment benefits and have access to a health insurance reimbursement fund.
According to SVMH spokesperson Adrienne Laurent, layoffs are not currently being discussed, but hospital officials have begun talking with some of the hospital's unions about further buyout proposals (Vijayan/Megnin, Salinas Californian, 7/17).
Stanford Hospitals & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Palo Alto
The public has until the close of business on July 27 to comment on a report outlining the potential environmental impact of a project to upgrade Stanford Hospitals & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital to meet state seismic safety standards, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
According to some experts, the $3.5 billion project -- which would expand the hospitals by 1.3 million feet -- could affect local air quality, housing, traffic and the surrounding environment.
The Palo Alto City Council has scheduled its final meeting to discuss the report on July 26. After the public comment period closes on July 27, city staff will compile the final environmental report, which is expected to be presented to the City Council in the fall (Dungan, San Jose Mercury News, 7/19).
Sutter Health, San Carlos
Sutter Health is expected to proceed with plans to construct a $550 million, 170,000 square-foot medical complex in San Carlos, pending approval from the system's board in September or October, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Plans for the complex have been under consideration since 2003. If approved by Sutter's board, construction of the complex could begin in January. Upon completion, the complex would be operated by Sutter's Peninsula Coastal Region (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 7/16). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.