Hospital News Roundup for July 13
Community Regional Medical Center officials announced a settlement in a dispute with the California Nurses Association over alleged unfair labor practices dating to 1996, the Fresno Bee reports.
Under the settlement, the hospital will reimburse about 280 union nurses for health care premium increases in 2005 and 2006. The nurses worked at University Medical Center, which Community took over in 1996.
The hospital also agreed to post a notice for employees detailing terms of the settlement reached with the National Labor Relations Board.
Tim Joslin, Community's CEO, said the settlement "will avoid protracted proceedings and litigation expenses" (Correa, Fresno Bee, 7/7).
In other Community news, hospital officials this week said the facility is treating more trauma patients than estimated since completing its merger with University Medical Center in April but that the extra volume has not caused a problem (Correa, Fresno Bee, 7/12).
The Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to authorize county officials to negotiate the sale of the Stanislaus Behavioral Health Center to Doctors Medical Center, the Modesto Bee reports.
Doctors would pay about $11 million for the behavioral health center, which includes land, buildings and equipment. The county also would lease back beds for county residents.
Supervisors on July 31 will consider the sale. If approved, the sale would be completed between Sept. 1 and Oct. 1 (Moran, Modesto Bee, 7/11).
Concord officials on Tuesday approved a $170 million proposal to expand services at John Muir Medical Center, the Contra Costa Times reports.
The expansion, scheduled to be complete by 2010, includes:
- An emergency department that is double the size of the current facility;
- A new medical office building; and
- A cardiovascular institute with 12 cardiac ICU beds and 49 telemetry beds.
The City Council at a later time will consider plans for a helicopter pad, a second medical office building and demolition of old portions of the existing hospital (Rose, Contra Costa Times, 7/11).
USC University Hospital is among nine new hospitals recently added to Aetna's provider network following a deal with the hospital's owner, Tenet Healthcare, Los Angeles Business reports.
Under the agreement, USC University Hospital and other Tenet facilities and physicians will participate in all Aetna insurance products, including:
- HMO;
- PPO;
- Medicare;
- Medicaid; and
- Workers' Compensation Access (Los Angeles Business, 7/11).