California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of June 13, 2008
On Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors delayed approval of a $682 million project to build a new acute care tower at Highland Hospital, the Oakland Tribune reports.
The supervisors accepted a county report on the project but delayed the certification of the plan's environmental impact report and approval of the project.
The board will take up the certification at its June 17 meeting (Metinko, Oakland Tribune, 6/10).
Loma Linda University Medical Center is delaying the construction of a four-story, $96.2 million ambulatory care pavilion after purchasing the 28-bed California Heart and Surgical Hospital, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
The medical center plans to eventually expand the specialty hospital to allow for the X-ray and outpatient services that had been planned for the pavilion, according to Mel Sauder, senior vice president for business development (Santschi, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 6/8).
The Sequoia Healthcare District has provided a $1.6 million grant to help treat uninsured patients at North Fair Oaks Clinic, the Tribune reports. San Mateo County administers the clinic.
Doctors at the clinic are focusing more on managing patients' chronic conditions as part of efforts to keep patients from going to hospitals, where care is expensive (Bishop, Oakland Tribune, 6/8).
Ojai Valley Community Hospital officials said they will build a new, $1.5 million emergency department with upgraded services, the Ventura County Star reports.
The new ED will include six patient rooms, a waiting room, private registration area and a triage area. The ED construction plan was submitted in October 2007 and has been sent back to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development twice for revisions.
The goal is to complete the construction of the new ED by the end of 2008 (Kisken, Ventura County Star, 6/10).
On Monday, Regional Medical Center of San Jose opened a $2.1 million heliport next to its ED, the Bay City News/San Jose Mercury News reports.
The heliport's location will allow patients to be transported by gurney to the ED. The hospital will begin accepting helicopters in the next few weeks (Bay City News/San Jose Mercury News, 6/9).
On Tuesday, Simi Valley Hospital officials said they were eliminating 26 positions as part of plans to cut programs for outpatient therapy, workplace injuries and long-term care with life support, the Star reports.
Half of the employees will be offered other jobs at the hospital, and the others could be offered jobs at hospitals operated by Adventist Health, the hospital's parent company.
The hospital is preparing to open a $75 million patient care tower that has yet to receive final state approval. The hospital will cut its 16-bed sub-acute care program for seniors who need long-term care as it awaits approval (Kisken, Ventura County Star, 6/11).
Sutter Health is building a new medical center in Santa Rosa as part of an effort to expand outpatient services in Sonoma County, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.
Sutter's medical foundation is converting office space into a new $13 million outpatient medical center for 16 physicians, which will feature obstetrics, urology, lab services, ambulatory surgery and other specialty services.
Demolition of the Landmark Executive Center is expected this summer, after building permits for the new facility are acquired. The new building will stand on that site (Espinoza, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 6/8).