California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of November 9, 2012
Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital, San Andreas
Mark Twain St. Joseph's Hospital in San Andreas is joining the Mercy Telehealth Network, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
The network uses wireless remote robots to connect stroke patients at 12 hospitals in Northern and Central California with physicians at the Mercy Neurological Institute in Sacramento (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 11/6).
Santa ÂRosa Memorial Hospital
Nurses at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Sonoma County participated in a three-day strike from Saturday through Monday to protest a number of issues, such as pay and staffing levels, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Sue Gadbois -- president of the Staff Nurses' Association -- said that most of the nearly 660 nurses represented by the union took part in the strike. Members of the Stationary Engineers union -- which represents engineers at the hospital -- also took part in the strike.
Gadbois said that the issue of compensation could have "a very negative impact on the hospital's ability to retain and attract nurses."
Hospital officials said that the facility is run by a not-for-profit group -- St. Joseph Health-Sonoma County -- and must control costs because it has tight operating margins. They also said that they anticipate reductions in government health care reimbursements (Marshall, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/4).
St. John's Health Center, Santa Monica
St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica is hosting the first U.S. pilot program to test disposable plaster sensors that monitor patients' vital signs, MobiHealthNews reports.
British developer Toumaz is working through Toumaz US -- a joint venture with UCLA surgeon and investor Patrick Soon-Shiong -- to test the continuous monitoring capabilities of the sensors, called Sensium Vitals.
The sensors are designed to capture patients' heart rate, respiratory rate and body temperature in real time so that physicians and nurses can respond more quickly to changes in vital signs (Versel, MobiHealthNews, 11/7).
Ventura County Medical Center
On Tuesday, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors awarded a $3.3 million contract to Pacific Mobile Structures to build a crisis residential treatment facility on the Ventura County Medical Center campus, the Ventura County Star reports.
The new 200,000 square-foot facility will cost an estimated $4.4 million and will replace the Hillmont House residential treatment center (McGrath, Ventura County Star, 11/6). 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.