California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of March 5, 2010
Kaiser Permanente, Vallejo
After two postponements, Kaiser Permanente opened its new 248-bed Vallejo Medical Center on Tuesday, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The five-story, $500 million facility meets the latest seismic standards and includes an expanded emergency department and intensive care and surgical units (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 3/2).
Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center, Riverside
On Feb. 25, Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center announced that it missed its Feb. 24 deadline to pay off its $30 million debt to Prime Healthcare Services, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
The medical center is attempting to gain acceptance to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Federal Housing Authority mortgage insurance program, which would refinance the hospital's debt.Â
In the meantime, officials have sought a bridge loan to pay off the note but have yet to secure one.
Hospital CEO Doug Drumwright said that Prime Healthcare has told Parkview that its forbearance period has expired. Drumwright said he has asked for additional time (Hines, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 2/26).
Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego
Relatives of Ernest Rady have filed a lawsuit asking the San Diego Superior Court to block a payment of $21 million Rady pledged to the hospital, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Hospital officials said the money would be used to fund a $260 million patient tower expected to open in October, purchase medical equipment and supplement the cost of charity care (Darcé, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2/26).
St. Bernardine Medical Center, San Bernardino
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) has secured $500,000 in appropriations to pay for a new surgical suite at St. Bernardine Medical Center, the Press-Enterprise reports.
Rep. Joe Baca (D-Rialto) has also secured $500,000 to help the 463-bed hospital pay for a $2.1 million MRI machine for breast cancer detection (Santschi, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 2/26).
San Leandro Hospital
In late February, the board of directors of Eden Township Healthcare District voted to initiate a lawsuit challenging the validity of agreements permitting Sutter Health to purchase San Leandro Hospital from the district, the Oakland Tribune reports.
Sutter operates San Leandro Hospital for the district and wants to purchase the facility -- as allowed under a memorandum of agreement passed by the district board in 2007 -- and then sell it to the Alameda County Medical Center, which intends to close the emergency department and acute-care center (Sweeney, Oakland Tribune, 2/28).
Sequoia Hospital, Redwood City
On Tuesday, Catholic Healthcare West announced that it has awarded Hunt Construction Group a $240 million contract to rebuild Sequoia Hospital, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
CHW said construction will get underway next month and is expected to continue until December 2012 (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 3/2).
Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Lakeport
One hundred and forty health care workers at Sutter Lakeside Hospital represented by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West have ratified a three-year contract that includes raises of up to 9.27%, compounded over the next three years, the Sacramento Business Journal reports (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 2/25).
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