California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of May 8, 2009
Alameda Hospital
Alameda Hospital has reached a tentative deal with the Service Employees International Union that gives members an 18% across-the-board pay raise over four years, the Contra Costa Times reports.
The tentative deal requires the 180 employees to contribute to the health care costs of their spouses and children.
The hospital's board was expected to vote on the contract May 4 (Ellson, Contra Costa Times, 4/30).
Kaiser Permanente, Oakland
On May 4, Kaiser Permanente opened a medical office building and cancer treatment center at its Oakland Medical Center campus, the Oakland Tribune reports.
The new facility offers ambulatory surgery, dermatology, radiation therapy, neurology, occupational and employee health services, outpatient nutritional services, pharmacies, laboratory services, adult medicine, internal medicine and adult education, according to Kaiser spokesperson P.J. Ballard (Maher, Oakland Tribune, 5/4).
Lodi Memorial Hospital
On April 1, Lodi Memorial Hospital filed a lawsuit against Anthem Blue Cross alleging that Anthem owes the hospital at least $6.3 million for medical and emergency services, the Stockton Record reports.
The suit comes three months after the hospital agreed to a renegotiated contract with the insurer, following a 21-month hiatus.
Anthem spokesperson Peggy Hinz declined to comment (Goldeen, Stockton Record, 5/6).
Stanford Hospital, Palo Alto
The Stanford Hospital and the Cardiovascular Institute at Stanford received a $5 million donation from the Younger Family Foundation, officials announced May 6, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
The gift will help fund the construction of a new Stanford Hospital that will meet state seismic safety standards.
In addition, $1 million of the donation will go to Stanford's Cardiovascular Institute (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 5/6).
Tri-City Medical Center, Oceanside
On April 30, interim Tri-City Medical Center CEO Larry Anderson informed the hospital's board that a plan to pay off $58.4 million worth of auction-rate securities has been delayed, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
The plan would use $30 million in loans and roughly the same amount in cash to pay off the securities.
Anderson said the postponement became necessary after lead lender MidCap Financial requested more information on the deal.
Anderson said that "after last week's board meetings, there were some reports in newspapers that gave our lenders some concerns" (Burge, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5/2).
In related news, on May 5, Tri-City Healthcare District officials confirmed that they have fired eight administrators, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. The announcement came a day after district officials reached a settlement agreement with former CEO Arthur Gonzalez.
The nine individuals were placed on administrative leave in December while investigators looked into the district's operations and finances (Sherman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5/6).
UC-Irvine Medical Center, Orange
On May 6, UC-Irvine announced that the estate of a deceased Orange County real estate developer donated $21 million to the University Hospital, the Orange County Register reports.
The seven-story University Hospital will be renamed the UC-Irvine Douglas Hospital after the benefactor, M.A. Douglas. The facility opened in March (Perkes, Orange County Register, 5/6). 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.