Hospital News Roundup for October 5, 2007
The Loma Linda City Council has approved plans for a 24-bed rehabilitation hospital to be constructed on the campus of Loma Linda University, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
Michael Jackson, the university's senior vice president, said construction will begin within two months and take 18 months to complete.
The $29 million facility will allow patients to receive inpatient and outpatient services at the same site.
The building will be adjacent to the university's wheelchair-accessible public park and will include private rooms with balconies, computer desks, private bathroom and beds for family members (Santschi, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 9/30).
On Wednesday, officials at the Safeway Foundation announced they will contribute $500,000 annually to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center's Mobile Mammography Unit, the East Bay Business Times reports.
The unit provides no- and low-cost mammograms to low-income women who are either uninsured or underinsured.
The annual grant will help the medical center increase the number of days the unit can operate (East Bay Business Times, 10/3).
Tests have confirmed that St. John's Regional Medical Center is free of mold following a $24 million fumigation that closed the facility for 10 days, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports.
The 265-bed hospital was closed in August and fumigated with chlorine dioxide gas. The facility reopened on Aug. 24 (AP/Sacramento Bee, 9/29).
A political action committee opposing the sale of Valley Health System hospitals filed a lawsuit last week seeking to stop the deal, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
On Nov. 6, voters will consider a measure that would allow the sale of the hospital district to Del Mar-based Select Healthcare Solutions for $135 million.
The Hospital Defense League alleges that the sale would "constitute an unlawful giving away of public funds and assets."
The hospital district operates:
- Hemet Valley Medical Center;
- Menifee Valley Medical Center in Sun City; and
- Moreno Valley Community Hospital (Atienza, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 9/27).