Hospital News Roundup for September 14
Los Angeles County supervisors approved an extra $18 million in funding for a new medical complex at County-USC Medical Center after new construction cost figures added $80 million to a previous estimate, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Total construction costs for the complex have grown to nearly $900 million, with the federal government covering $400 million of that figure.
Department of Public Works officials attributed much of the cost increase to higher prices of construction materials. The cost estimate is comparable to other major projects in the area, officials said.
The additional funds from the county will cover alterations and correct errors in the original construction plan (Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times, 9/12).
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian received a $16 million donation from the George Hoag Family Foundation to help expand the hospital's cancer center and develop a diabetes program, officials said Wednesday, the Times reports.
The foundation also helped pay for the construction of the hospital in 1950 and its cancer center in 1989 (Los Angeles Times, 9/13).
Los Angeles County's health chief on Tuesday told supervisors that more than 800 former employees of Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital have been assigned to its urgent care operating center following the closure of its emergency department, the Times reports.
About 700 other King-Harbor employees are being transferred to other county facilities (Los Angeles Times, 9/12).
San Mateo County will need another 50 to 330 hospital beds by 2030 to treat an aging population, according to a recent study commissioned by the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, which has proposed building a new hospital in San Carlos, the Oakland Tribune reports.
PAMF hired the New Century Healthcare Institute to study the need for medical facilities in the county and build support for its hospital proposal. The study is based on 2005 data from state agencies.
The study found that the number of people over age 65 in the county will triple in the next 40 years.
The foundation seeks to build a 97-bed facility, a slight reduction from the 110 beds it initially proposed (Abramson, Oakland Tribune, 9/11).
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center on Wednesday announced that it received a $2.1 million, five-year grant for its traumatic brain injury program, the San Jose Business Journal reports.
The new grant will fund a study to identify interventions for individuals with traumatic brain injuries who report fatigue as a significant daily challenge. The grant will cover 69% of the program's cost, while the hospital will absorb the remainder.
The hospital said the grant was one of 14 awarded by the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (San Jose Business Journal, 9/12).