California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of July 6, 2012
California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco
Some members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors are questioning the trustworthiness of California Pacific Medical Center officials after the hospital's internal financial documents were made public Monday, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Coté, San Francisco Chronicle, 7/2).
The city is involved in a $2.5 billion construction agreement with the hospital that includes building a new 555-bed facility on Cathedral Hill (California Healthline, 6/29).
The internal documents show that hospital officials considered cutting hundreds of jobs, paying significantly less in charity care than the amount included in the construction agreement and closing St. Luke's Hospital in the Mission District after four years, despite a pledge to operate it for 20 years.
A hospital spokesperson said the documents were "drafts that were discarded and not used."
The construction agreement likely will be delayed and modified, according to the Chronicle (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/2).
Palomar Medical Center, Escondido
On Aug. 19, the emergency department at Palomar Medical Center in downtown Escondido will close and reopen at the new $956 million Palomar Medical Center on Citracado Parkway, U-T San Diego reports.
The downtown ED treats about 70,000 patients annually, but hospital officials said the new facility will be able to treat 100,000 patients annually.
The downtown hospital will remain open as Palomar Health Downtown Campus. It will provide an urgent care center, a women's and children's care center, cardiac rehabilitation care and mental health services (Breier, U-T San Diego, 6/27).
Prime Healthcare Services, Ontario
On Sunday, Ontario-based Prime Healthcare Services assumed control of St. Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev., converting the facility from a not-for-profit, faith-based hospital to a for-profit entity, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports.
In 2011, St. Mary's recorded $43.5 million in losses, according to Dignity Health, the hospital's previous owner.
On March 30, Dignity sold St. Mary's to Prime for an undisclosed price.
Prime has agreed to invest at least $20 million in St. Mary's over the next three years and offer jobs to most of the hospital's 1,600 employees (Long, Reno Gazette-Journal, 7/1).
Simi Valley Hospital
Simi Valley Hospital has received three awards in the 2012 PRC National Excellence in Healthcare program, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal reports.
The awards program was based on an employee perception survey.
PRC -- a health care research firm -- recognized Simi Valley for demonstrating excellence in three categories:
- Communication;
- Immediate supervisor; and
- Teamwork within a department (San Fernando Valley Business Journal, 6/29).
Sutter Health
On Tuesday, members of the California Nurses Association at seven hospitals operated by Sutter Health took part in a one-day strike to protest cutbacks proposed during contract negotiations, the San Mateo Daily Journal reports (San Mateo Daily Journal, 5/4)
About 3,400 nurses and several hundred health care technicians were slated to take part in the strike (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 7/2).
The strike was expected to affect the following facilities:
- Alta Bates Summit Medical Center facilities in Oakland and Berkeley;
- Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley;
- Mills-Peninsula facilities in Burlingame and San Mateo; andÂ
- San Leandro Hospital (Kleffman, San Jose Mercury News, 7/2).