California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of June 6, 2014
El Camino Hospital, Mountain View
El Camino Hospital has launched the PulsePoint AED application in conjunction with the PulsePoint Foundation, Health Data Management reports.
The app -- available through iTunes and Google Play -- aims to create a registry of automated external defibrillators that are publicly available for use during cardiac emergencies (Goth, Health Data Management, 6/4).
Grossmont Hospital, La Mesa
On Tuesday, voters approved a measure extending Sharp HealthCare's lease of Grossmont Hospital until 2051, U-T San Diego reports.
According to U-T San Diego, the Grossmont Healthcare District originally signed a 30-year deal with Sharp in 1991, which was set to expire in 2021 (Pearlman, U-T San Diego, 6/3).
Kaiser Permanente, San Leandro
On Tuesday, Kaiser Permanente opened a new, six-story hospital in San Leandro, the Daily Review/Contra Costa Times reports. According to the Times, the 435,900-square-foot hospital has 216 beds, but the top floor of the hospital is vacant, allowing it to accommodate 264 total patients if necessary in the future (Parr, Daily Review/Contra Costa Times, 6/1).
Kaiser will close its hospital in Hayward and move between 60 to 70 patients to the new hospital (Rauber, "BayArea BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 5/30).
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, Palo Alto
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford has launched a campaign to rebrand itself as Stanford Children's Health, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
According to the Times, the new brand is comprised of the Children's Hospital and a network of San Francisco Bay Area physicians' office, clinics and joint ventures with Dominican Hospital, John Muir Hospital, San Francisco's California Pacific Medical Center and Sequoia Hospital (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 5/30).
Pacifica Hospital of the Valley, Los Angeles
On May 29, the Los Angeles Office of the City Attorney announced that Pacifica Hospital of the Valley has agreed to pay $500,000 to providers of homeless services to settle allegations that the health care facility dumped patients in Los Angeles' Skid Row-area, KPPC's "KPPC News" reports.
According to the announcement, Pacifica has agreed to pay Downtown Women's Center, Integrated Recovery Network, L.A. Family Housing, Midnight Mission, Union Rescue Mission and Venice Family Clinic. In addition, the settlement requires Pacifica to pay $200,000 in civil penalties, as well as $50,000 for the city's legal fees ("KPPC News," KPPC, 5/29).
Pacifica did not admit to any wrongdoing as part of the agreement (Serna/Winton, "L.A. Now," Los Angeles Times, 5/29).
UC-San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland
The American College of Surgeons has verified UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland's trauma center as Level 1, the Daily Review/Contra Costa Times reports.
The verification makes Benioff the only Level 1 trauma center in the San Francisco Bay Area and one of only four pediatric trauma centers in the state (Parr, Daily Review/Contra Costa Times, 6/3).
ValleyCare Health System
On May 29, ValleyCare Health System announced it is considering a merger with Stanford Hospital & Clinics, San Francisco Business Times' "Bay Area BizTalk" reports.
According to officials at both providers, the two organizations have signed a non-binding letter of intent to affiliate. According to the organizations, the merger would make ValleyCare and its hospitals a subsidiary of the Stanford health system (Rauber, "Bay Area BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 6/29).
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