California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of March 21, 2014

Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, Los Angeles

The Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute completed a total of 119 adult heart transplants over the past year, setting a new record, according to a Cedars-Sinai release.

Over the last four years, the Heart Institute and Cedars-Sinai's Comprehensive Transplant Center have completed more adult heart transplants annually than any other U.S. medical center. Overall, 975 patients have undergone heart transplants at the center since Cedars-Sinai launched its Heart Transplant Program in 1988 (Cedars-Sinai release, 3/17).

Mercy General Hospital, Sacramento

In early April, Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento will open its newly completed $170 million, 123,000-square-foot Alex G. Spanos Heart & Vascular Center, the Sacramento Bee reports.

The center includes 71 patient rooms, a 20-bed cardiac intensive care unit and a 21-bed ambulatory unit. In addition, the center has four new operating rooms and a hybrid OR where heart surgeons and cardiologists can collaborate on surgical procedures (Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 3/20).

Natividad Medical Center, Salinas

In a letter sent to Monterey County Supervisor Lou Calcagno last week, three members of the Natividad Medical Center's board of trustees announced their resignation, citing frustration with the slow pace and practices of the county government, KSBW reports.

The members -- whose resignations take effect April 1 -- include Board Chair Roy Robins, Finance Committee Chair Rodney Braga and Governance Committee Chair Margaret Eaton (KSBW, 3/16).

UC-Davis Medical Center

This week, UC-Davis Medical Center launched a state-funded umbilical cord blood collection program designed to aid transplantation and medical research, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.  According to the Business Journal, the blood is valuable because of its high stem cell content, which can be used to treat genetic disorders, cancer and other diseases.

The collection program was established by the state legislature in 2010 and is funded by a temporary $2 fee on birth certificate copies. Blood collected at UC-Davis will be submitted to San Diego Blood Bank, where it will be tested for genetic characteristics and any infectious diseases before being stored in the national registry.

The program also includes Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and five other hospitals in Southern California. Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento is scheduled to start accepting donations in April (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 3/19).

UC-San Francisco

In early March, UC-San Francisco told the Mission Bay Citizens Advisory Committee that it was in talks with Salesforce.com to purchase and redevelop a site across from the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay, Modern Healthcare reports. The site would accommodate up to 500,000 square feet of office and biotech space.

According to Modern Healthcare, the plans have to go through several rounds of approval, but construction could begin within the next few years, with the second phase completed as early as 2022 (Landen, Modern Healthcare, 3/19).