California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of May 27, 2011

California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (D) is asking California Pacific Medical Center to provide more than $108 million in affordable housing payments, transit benefits and other community benefits in exchange for city approval of CPMC's plan to build a new hospital, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

CPMC, a Sutter Health affiliate, hopes to obtain city approval by the end of the year to build a 555-bed hospital and a nine-story medical office building on Cathedral Hill. Lee's proposal does not ask CPMC to scale down its construction project, but provides a long list of requirements instead. For example, the mayor asks CPMC to commit to hiring 30% of its construction workers from San Francisco and provide more than $3.3 million annually to expand health care to uninsured patients (Coté, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/20).

Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Children's Hospital Los Angeles has partnered with the University of Southern California to create a new research center aimed at developing medical devices for children, Los Angeles Business reports.

The new Center for Technology and Innovation in Pediatrics will bring together institutes, programs, faculty and students to identify possible pediatric medical devices. The center also seeks to address existing challenges to the commercialization of pediatric medical devices and determine how academic institutions could help alleviate such hurdles (Los Angeles Business, 5/20).

Mercy Hospital of Folsom

Mercy Hospital of Folsom recently began moving patients into its new $15 million progressive-care unit, which aims to improve care and ease crowding in the hospital's emergency department and intensive care unit, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

The unit provides intermediate-level care for patients who do not need ICU care, but who need more monitoring than the amount provided in medical-surgical units. The new facility adds 21 inpatient beds, bringing the total number of beds at the hospital to 106 (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 5/20).

San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital, Banning

As it continues its construction project, San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital has opened two mock-ups of future patient rooms, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.

One mock-up shows how rooms will look in the hospital's new intensive care unit, and the other mock-up represents an emergency department examination room. The hospital built the mock-ups so hospital staff could provide input on the design of the rooms. In August, hospital officials are expected to provide an update on the expected completion date for the new two-story building, which will contain 16 ICU rooms and 23 emergency exam rooms (Waldner, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 5/22).

Scripps Health, La Jolla

On Tuesday, Scripps Health held a groundbreaking event for the new $43.9 million Scripps Radiation Therapy Center, which will be located across the street from Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

The 41,000 square-foot center will consolidate existing radiation oncology centers at Scripps Green Hospital and Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla. Construction of the radiation center is expected to start in June and the center is expected to open in the fall of 2012. When complete, the center will have the capacity to treat about 1,200 patients annually (Ignelzi, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5/24).

Temecula Valley Hospital

After five years of delays and adjustments to building plans, construction is expected to begin on the new 140-bed Temecula Valley Hospital next month, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.

Temecula City Council members initially approved plans for the hospital in 2006. In February, the council required project developer Universal Health Services to post a $5 million bond to guarantee construction of the hospital.

When complete, the five-story facility will include an emergency department, six high-tech surgical suites and a 20-bed intensive care unit. A public groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for June 20 and construction is expected to be completed by the summer of 2013 (Horseman, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 5/25).

UC-San Diego Medical Center and UCSD Thornton Hospital

The official opening of the $227 million UCSD Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center remains on hold as state and federal officials finish investigating problems at UC-San Diego Medical Center and UCSD Thornton Hospital, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Ralph Montano, spokesperson for the state Department of Public Health, said DPH has halted efforts to inspect and issue an operating permit for the new center until the investigation is complete. State and federal officials started the probe in February following reports of patient safety incidents at both hospitals. Although CMS and state officials have approved UCSD's plan to address the issues, follow-up inspections will be necessary to ensure that the corrections have been implemented, Montano said (Lavelle, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5/20).