Hospital News Roundup for October 19, 2007
On Wednesday, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center announced a partnership with three insurers to transfer patients from Guam to the hospital for treatment, the Pacific Daily News reports.
Under the agreement, patients transferred from Guam who have insurance through SelectCare, TakeCare and NetCare will pay only copayments and deductibles for services at Cedars-Sinai. The cost of flights and lodging will not be covered.
Cedars-Sinai also agreed to provide videoconferencing with physicians at Guam Memorial Hospital and other clinics, Spencer Koerner, director of the Center for International Health and Telemedicine at Cedars-Sinai, said (Kelman, Pacific Daily News, 10/18).
Eden Medical Center is holding public hearings this week to consider a proposal by Sutter Health to replace the hospital and change its governing structure, the Oakland Tribune reports.
Under the proposal, Sutter would spend $300 million to replace the hospital and reduce the number of beds from 176 to 130.
In exchange for funding the new hospital, Sutter is seeking the right to appoint all board members, who would be community residents. Currently, the board includes five elected members, five Sutter-appointed members and the hospital CEO.
John Borsos, vice president of Service Employees International/United Healthcare Workers West, said the union wants the hearings delayed at least 60 days to allow "a full public dialogue about what this means to the community" (Kleffman, Oakland Tribune, 10/14).
Kaiser Permanente next month plans to begin construction of a 78-bed hospital wing for its Santa Rosa medical center, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reports.
The hospital originally scheduled construction to begin next spring. Officials now aim to open the new wing in September 2010, three months earlier than previously planned.
Kaiser officials accelerated the construction schedule to better compete for future market share if Sutter Health follows through with plans to close its Sonoma County in-patient facility.
The Kaiser expansion will:
- Increase medical surgery beds from 72 to 111;
- Double intensive-care unit beds to 20;
- Increase postpartum beds from 17 to 24; and
- Double emergency department beds to 34 (Rose, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 10/13).