California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of September 28, 2012
Eden Medical Center, Castro Valley
The new $320 million building for Eden Medical Center is expected to open its doors in December after three years of construction, the Contra Costa Times reports.
The facility was built to comply with state seismic safety requirements. It will include 130 patient rooms with private baths and sleeper-sofas or recliners so family members can stay with patients overnight (Parr, Contra Costa Times, 9/23).
Kaiser Permanente, Fontana
Officials recently said that Kaiser Permanente's new $720 million, 314-bed facility in Fontana is expected to open in May, months ahead of schedule, the San Bernardino County Sun reports.
The seven-story, 490,000 square-foot facility is 99% complete and was built to comply with state seismic safety requirements.
The existing hospital facility will be maintained and there currently are no plans to demolish the building (Steinberg, San Bernardino County Sun, 9/21).
Mills-Peninsula Health Services, San Mateo
Mills-Peninsula Health Services will close its standby emergency department in downtown San Mateo on Dec. 1 and will convert it into an urgent care clinic next year, the San Mateo County Times reports.
Officials said that converting the ED will allow Mills-Peninsula to offer the same services without having to meet state seismic safety standards by Jan. 1, 2013 (Kinney, San Mateo County Times, 9/20).
Napa State Hospital
Last week, officials from the Department of State Hospitals started replacing the safety alarm-equipped lanyards worn by Napa State Hospital employees with new lanyards that pose no risk of strangulation, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The earlier lanyards were designed to break in the back if pulled on with enough force. However, employees expressed concern that the lanyards still could be used for strangulation if pulled on from behind.
To improve the safety of the devices, Mike Jarschke -- a psychiatric technician at Napa State -- designed a new lanyard that has three breakaway points. Officials said they will use Jarschke's device at Napa State and eventually will roll it out to other mental health hospitals in the state. Employees also will have the option of wearing the safety alarms on their belt loops (Romney, Los Angeles Times, 9/24).
San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital, Banning
San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital's food and nutrition department has earned a Grade A from the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
The health department determined the grade after county surveyors visited the hospital for a semi-quarterly, unannounced inspection on Sept. 12 (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 9/21).
Stanford Hospitals & Clinics, Palo Alto
University HealthCare Alliance, the physician network for Stanford Hospital & Clinics, has affiliated with the Cardiovascular Consultants Medical Group, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Cardiovascular Consultants -- which has five offices and 22 specialty physicians -- affiliated with Stanford on Aug. 1. Neither Stanford nor Cardiovascular Consultants has indicated whether any jobs were lost in as a result of the affiliation.
University HealthCare Alliance now includes about 460 doctors, based on data from the groups' websites (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 9/21).
Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla
Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla has received a $25 million donation from La Jolla residents Eileen and John Anderson IV for the construction of a medical facility and outpatient clinic, U-T San Diego reports.
Construction on the new John R. Anderson V Medical Pavilion, which is named after the couple's son, is expected to begin next year and be completed in 2016. The six-story, 175,000 square-foot facility will house specialists in neurology, cardiology, and endocrinology, among other areas (Lavelle, U-T San Diego, 9/25). 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.