California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of July 25, 2008
CommuniCare Health Centers plans to close its clinic in Knights Landing because of inadequate funding, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The clinic currently is open about 12 hours per week and is staffed by a nurse practitioner and physician's assistant. About 300 to 400 patients seek treatment at the clinic annually (Sangree, Sacramento Bee, 7/23).
In June, Tenet Healthcare announced that it would not renew its lease to operate Community Hospital of Los Gatos, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal reports. The lease expires in May 2009.
Stephen Newman, chief operating officer for Tenet, said that the age of the facility and the cost of seismic upgrades that are needed contributed to Tenet's decision to let the lease expire.
Edward Henning -- executive vice president of HCP, the health care real estate investment firm that owns the hospital -- said HCP is in talks with several groups interested in taking over the lease on the facility (Kim, Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, 7/21).
Last week, the Riverside County Department of Mental Health announced that it would postpone the closure of Oasis Rehabilitation Center, the only long-term mental health care facility for indigent patients in the area, the Palm Springs Desert Sun reports.
Department officials said the delay likely would last at least three months.
The department is considering other options to reduce costs (Honoré, Palm Springs Desert Sun, 7/17).
Last week, St. Agnes Medical Center got permission to resume cardiac surgeries after the California Department of Public Health accepted the hospital's correction plan, the Fresno Bee reports.
St. Agnes voluntarily suspended cardiac surgeries last month after a spike in infections in patients who had heart surgery at the facility. A month before that, the state had ordered the unit to be closed for a week (Correa, Fresno Bee, 7/16).
Sequoia Community Health Centers has won approval from a federal bankruptcy court judge to borrow $1.5 million from Clinica Sierra Vista in Bakersfield, the Fresno Bee reports.
Clinica Sierra Vista is negotiating to take over Sequoia Community Health Centers, which declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month (Correa, Fresno Bee, 7/22).
Demolition of part of Simi Valley Hospital began on Monday and will run into next month, the Ventura County Star reports.
The hospital will construct space for a new lobby, chapel and gift shop (Kisken, Ventura County Star, 6/22).