California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of July 24, 2015
Chapman Global Medical Center, South Coast Global Medical Center, Orange County
The Chapman Global Medical Center and South Coast Global Medical Center both have received Healthgrades' Patient Safety Excellence Award, according to a release.
The award is given to hospitals based on their prevention of complications during hospital stays. The distinction puts the two facilities in the top 10% of hospitals based on Healthgrades' patient safety ratings (KPC Health release, 7/21).
Daughters of Charity Health System
BlueMountain Capital Management has agreed to make an initial $250 million investment in Daughters of Charity Health System, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Under the deal, BlueMountain will continue to operate the health system as a not-for-profit for at least three years, after which the firm could acquire the chain and transition it into a for-profit system. Meanwhile, Daughters of Charity will transfer control of its hospitals to a new board of directors (Seipel, San Jose Mercury News, 7/17).
French Hospital Medical Center, San Luis Obispo
Members of the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West protested at Dignity Health's French Hospital Medical Center for higher wages and changes to the employee health plan, KSBY reports.
Shane Smithwick, a worker at the hospital said, "We need to maintain our health care, we need to maintain our wages, and Dignity, [which] made a quarterly bonus of $1.3 billion last quarter, is unable to meet us at the table and come to an agreement on our health care and on our wages," noting that more protests will continue at the health system's facilities across the state (KSBY, 7/8).
Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital
The new Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital has started assigning care managers to every patient in an effort to meet Affordable Care Act thresholds for financial incentives, KPCC's "KPCC News" reports. The care managers follow every patient through their course of treatment and afterward to help patients understand their conditions and care (Aguilera, "KPCC News," KPCC, 7/15).
Earlier this month, the new 131-bed Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital reopened after closing in 2007 following reports of inadequate care (California Healthline, 7/10).
Prime Healthcare Services
Prime Healthcare Services plans to issue $700 million in new debt to finance several acquisitions, Modern Healthcare reports.
According to a spokesperson, Prime plans to use $183 million from the bond offering to acquire six hospitals by the end of 2015. The bond offering also will be used to refinance some of Prime's existing debt (Kutscher, Modern Healthcare, 7/20).
Rideout Memorial Hospital, Marysville
Rideout Memorial Hospital is closer to regaining good standing in Medicare and Medicaid programs after meeting the requirements of an improvement agreement with federal officials, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
Two years ago, a regulatory survey found several issues with the hospital's patient safety, such as the use of restraints and inadequate infection control, and federal regulators threatened to close the hospital. After meeting the improvement requirements, Rideout now meets federal standards to participate in Medicare and Medicaid (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 7/14).
Sonoma West Medical Center, Sebastopol
The new Sonoma West Medical Center is set to open in early August, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.
The facility -- previously the Palm Drive Hospital, which closed in April 2014 after financial struggles -- will serve as a 25-bed acute care hospital and will be supported by various specialty medical institutes. The hospital is awaiting a final survey by the California Department of Public Health, which is scheduled to take place next week(Espinoza, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 7/17).
Sutter Health, Sacramento
Sutter Health's operating margin nearly doubled in the first quarter of this year, reaching 3.8%, Modern Healthcare reports. The health system's operating surplus reached $101 million on about $2.7 billion in revenue.
The increase comes as the hospital had higher admissions and treated more insured patients (Kutscher, Modern Healthcare, 7/22).
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