Hospital News Roundup for April 6
Alta Bates Summit Medical Center expects to complete construction within a year on a $12.5 million breast health center, the Oakland Tribune reports.
The Carol Ann Read Breast Health Center is designed to be the first facility in East Bay dedicated to a holistic approach to breast cancer detection, diagnosis and treatment. The facility will provide clinical and imaging services, conduct evaluations of breast abnormalities and participate in research studies (Nardi, Oakland Tribune, 4/3).
California Pacific Medical Center's plan to build a campus in the Cathedral Hill neighborhood of San Francisco faces resistance from the Service Employees International Union's United Healthcare Workers-West and some community groups, the San Francisco Business Times reports.
The boards of CPMC and its parent company, Sutter Health, approved the project last
week, and hospital officials would like to begin construction in 2008 or 2009 at the latest. CPMC prior to the start of construction must obtain entitlements from the city, a process that is expected to take at least two years.
City supervisors said opposition from UHW-West and some local residents could draw out the entitlement process. UHW-West maintains that CPMC and Sutter Health have an unfavorable relationship with organized labor, while residents have raised concerns about the project's impact on traffic (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 3/30).
Officials from St. Jude Medical Center on Thursday at a community meeting will outline a proposed $110 million expansion of the St. Jude Medical Plaza, the Orange County Register reports.
The facility, which would be completed by 2009, would feature a state-of-the-art surgery center, relocated physician offices and advanced imaging services.
The expansion would supplement a $1.6 billion overhaul of the medical center to meet state seismic standards and respond to an increasing patient load (Giasone, Orange County Register, 4/3).
The California Health Facilities Financing Authority last week approved the issue of $910 million in tax-exempt construction bonds to Sutter Health after the hospital chain agreed to donate $4 million over the next six years to help rural hospitals build an electronic health records system, the Sacramento Bee reports. Sutter also will donate $750,000 annually to community clinics.
Board chair and state Treasurer Bill Lockyer (D) said the arrangement is unprecedented and would serve as a model for future deals.
The deal allows Sutter to move ahead with a bond sale later this month to finance $750 million in construction projects at various hospitals. The hospital chain plans to put the remaining $160 million toward reducing interest on long-term debt (Chan, Sacramento Bee, 3/31).
The new $1.2 billion hospital complex at the UC-San Francisco Medical Center in Mission Bay will be among the first in the nation devoted exclusively to treating women, children and cancer, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Scheduled to open in 2013, the complex will include 183 beds for children, 36 beds for women and 70 beds for cancer treatment. The complex also will include a $135 million cancer research center, scheduled to open in fall 2008, which will allow cancer researchers to work closely with specialists at the hospital.
The UC Board of Regents in May is expected to give the medical center approval to begin fundraising for the new project (Guthrie, San Francisco Chronicle, 4/2).