California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of May 29, 2015

Children's Hospital of Orange County

Children's Hospital of Orange County has received $5 million from a private donor to help treat childhood mental health issues, the Mission Viejo Patch reports.

According to hospital officials, the donation will be used to create the 18-bed CHOC Mental Health Inpatient Center, which will serve patients ages three to 18. Construction on the center is expected to end in late 2017 (Austin, Mission Viejo Patch, 5/21).

Daughters of Charity Health System

Stakeholders say that New York-based private equity firm Blue Wolf Capital Partners is the leading candidate to purchase the Daughters of Charity Health System, Payers & Providers reports (Shinkman, Payers & Providers, 5/28).

In April, Daughters of Charity said it was planning to cut 4% of its workforce to reduce expenses after Prime Healthcare Services withdrew its offer to buy the cash-strapped hospitals (California Healthline, 4/24).

Daughters of Charity CEO Robert Issai said he plans to find a buyer by mid-summer. In the meantime, the health system's medical group is at risk of losing many of its physicians to rivals, the San Francisco Business Times' "Bay Area BizTalk" reports (Rauber, "Bay Area BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 5/21).

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Orange County

The Hoag Family Cancer Institute at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian has launched a new program to address Orange County's high rate of melanoma, according to a hospital release.

Under the Hoag Melanoma/Advanced Skin Cancer Program, created through a partnership with the University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, patients can see all necessary providers in one location in the same day. The program aims to increase patients' access to clinical trials (Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian hospital release, 5/12).

Lodi Memorial Hospital Association

California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) has approved Adventist Health's acquisition of Lodi Memorial Hospital Association, the Lodi News-Sentinel reports.

Harris approved the deal under certain conditions, including maintaining for at least five years 24 emergency treatment stations, eight acute rehabilitation beds, the hospital's cardiac unit and adult daycare services. In addition, under the deal, Adventist Health must make as much as $98 million in capital improvements over the next 13 years (Bonnet, Lodi News-Sentinel, 5/20).

Marshal Medical Center, Placerville

A Sacramento district court judge has found sufficient evidence to support claims of a Marshall Medical Center nurse's whistleblower lawsuit, allowing the case to proceed to court, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

In the lawsuit, registered nurse Colleen Herren alleges that she was wrongfully terminated after reporting a lack of oversight and illegal billing practices to hospital management (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 5/18).

San Francisco General Hospital

UC-San Francisco is approaching a deal with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to start construction on a $160 million research facility on the San Francisco General Hospital campus, the San Francisco Business Times' "Bay Area BizTalk" reports.

The center would house 800 UCSF employees, including about 200 clinicians and researchers. A lease deal could be reached by June 30, 2016, after an environmental impact report is finished and the University of California Board of Regents and city officials sign off on the project (Rauber, "Bay Area BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 5/27).

Stanford Health Care

Harris has approved Stanford Health Care's acquisition of the ValleyCare Health System, the San Francisco Business Times' "Bay Area BizTalk" reports.

The acquisition includes various ValleyCare facilities, including a 242-bed inpatient hospital in Pleasanton and urgent care facilities in Dublin and Livermore (Rauber, "Bay Area BizTalk," San Francisco Business Times, 5/26).