California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of May 1, 2009
Marin General Hospital, Greenbrae
Marin Healthcare District has contracted with Affiliated Computer Services to implement and maintain a new information technology system at Marin General Hospital through 2017, the Marin Independent Journal reports.
Under the $55 million contract, the new IT system must be operational on the day the district assumes control of the hospital.
The hospital cannot continue to use its existing system because the system is owned by Sutter Health, which currently operates Marin General (Halstead, Marin Independent Journal, 4/25).
Riverside County Regional Medical Center, Moreno Valley
The Riverside County Regional Medical Center has received a $70,000 grant from the California HealthCare Foundation to expand its collection and reporting of patient satisfaction survey results, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
The hospital will use the grant to report data to CHCF, which assesses and posts health care facility data on calhospitalcompare.org. Data also will be sent to two professional groups and state and federal regulators that already receive the data (Hines, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 4/27).
CHCF is the publisher of California Healthline.
San Leandro Hospital
Officials representing Alameda County and Sutter Health are discussing the possibility of converting San Leandro Hospital to a public facility that would serve as the backup for Highland Hospital in Oakland, the county's main facility, the Contra Costa Times reports.
County Health Care Services Agency Director Dave Kears has noted that half of the 27,000 patients who come to San Leandro Hospital's emergency department each year are Oakland residents (Holzmeister, Contra Costa Times, 4/28).
Tri-City Medical Center, Oceanside
Doctors at Tri-City Medical Center have started a lobbying effort to change the governing structure of the public health care district, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
At a news conference on April 27, the chief of the hospital's medical staff said the majority of physicians who practice at Tri-City believe that the seven-member Tri-City Healthcare District is incapable of keeping the facility competitive (Burge, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4/28).
In other district news, the district board has voted to pay off $58.4 million in high-interest bonds using a $30 million loan and cash on hand, the Union-Tribune reports.
At the same meeting, the board also removed RoseMarie Reno as chair and Kathleen Sterling as vice chair.
Madeline Rodriguez, a physician, will serve as chair, and Reno will serve as vice chair (Burge, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4/24).
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.