California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of June 7, 2013
Coalinga Regional Medical Center
Earlier this week, Coalinga Regional Medical Center conducted test flights to help develop international criteria for helipad lighting, the Fresno Bee reports.
Sharon Spurgeon, the hospital's CEO and administrator, said that the lighting improvement project -- which was funded through the Federal Aviation Administration -- aims to make helipad landing safer (Jimenez, Fresno Bee, 5/30). Â
Palomar Medical Center, Escondido
Officials at Palomar Medical Center have announced plans to lay off 84 workers -- or 2% of the hospital's workforce -- on July 26, Modern Healthcare reports.
Michael Covert, president and CEO of the Palomar Health System, attributed the layoffs to reduced Medicare payments under sequestration, lower patient volume and patient satisfaction scores (Selvam, Modern Healthcare, 6/4).
San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center
On Thursday, the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation announced that it received a $1,122,500 donation from Bank of America.
The funds will be allocated for the San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (Bank of America release, 6/6).
San Leandro Hospital
Last week, board members for Eden Township Healthcare District delayed a decision on whether to pay a $20 million subsidy to keep San Leandro Hospital open as it transitions to new ownership, the Contra Costa Times reports.
Earlier this month, Sutter Health signed a letter of intent to transfer ownership of the 93-bed hospital to Alameda Health Systems. Alex Briscoe -- director of the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency -- requested the funds to keep the hospital and its emergency department open for three years and to complete the deal.
Briscoe told the board that the hospital would close if the funds were not approved by July 1 (Parr, Contra Costa Times, 5/31). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.