California Hospital News Roundup for the Week of September 5, 2014

Doctors Medical Center, San Pablo

Last week, a federal judge issued a final ruling authorizing service cuts in emergency care at Doctors Medical Center, the Oakland Tribune/Inside Bay Area News reports.

According to the Tribune/Inside Bay Area News, U.S. District Judge William Orrick affirmed a tentative ruling issued last week, when he denied an injunction to restore the facility's staffing levels and emergency services. 

Meanwhile, the California Senate failed to act on legislation (AB 39) that would have classified the hospital as a public health center and increased payments to the facility, which could have helped address DMC's budget issues (Artz, Oakland Tribune/Inside Bay Area News, 8/29).

Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente and the California Nurses Association agreed to extend their current contract until Sept. 30, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

Under the agreement, all current contract terms will remain in effect for an additional month (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 8/29).

Shriners Hospital, UC-Davis Medical Center

Shriners Hospital in Sacramento has expanded its partnership with UC-Davis Medical Center to launch a new pediatric surgery program that treats patients with Crohn's disease, morbid obesity and esophageal structures, among other conditions, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.

UC-Davis physicians Shinjiro Hirose and Diana Farmer will head the new division, which will serve children throughout California and the Western U.S. (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 9/3).

Sutter Children's Center, Sacramento

Last month, the intensive care unit at Sutter Children's Center received a $150,000 donation from former professional football player Steve Young through his Forever Young Foundation, the Sacramento Bee's "Healthy Choices" reports. The money will be used to fund a facility, called Sophie's Place, for the center's musical therapy program.

The facility will be housed in Sutter's new Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center, which is scheduled to open in May 2015 (Caiola, "Healthy Choices," Sacramento Bee, 8/31).