UC-STANFORD: MERGER APPROVED BY UC REGENTS; STANFORD NEXT

      In a 12-4 vote, the University of California regents gave
 final approval to the merger of publicly-run UC San Francisco
 hospital and the privately-operated Stanford University hospital. 
 The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the "deal will become
 final with expected approval by Stanford University trustees
 [today]."  The new private hospital corporation, UCSF-Stanford
 Health Care, will assume control of the two hospitals November 1
 (Russell, 9/20).  "[T]he merger of medicine's version of Gump's
 and Saks Fifth Avenue vows to bring the best of big-ticket health
 care to Northern California," San Francisco Examiner reports. 
 The partnership is expected to save millions of dollars "through
 integration of management functions at the two hospitals."
 (Krieger, 9/22).  
      MEGA-MERGER
      Dr. Haile Debas, UCSF chancellor, said the merger will allow
 the two centers to share resources, lower costs and "make it
 easier for researchers at both schools to join forces in clinical
 studies of new drugs emerging from the biotechnology industry." 
 Debas added, however, that the centers "will still compete as
 medical schools for the best students, the best residents and the
 best faculty" (San Francisco Chronicle, 9/20).  Peter Van Etten,
 president and CEO of UCSF-Stanford Health Care Corp., said, "We
 plan to become a national center for treating complex illnesses. 
 Our universities are world leaders in the research and
 development of new genetic treatments, new devices in
 cardiovascular medicine, new types of surgery."  The San
 Francisco Examiner notes that "[o]ne of the most immediate and
 visible payoffs of the merger is likely to be in the area of
 children's health."  Prior to the combination, neither school had
 the facilities or patient numbers to gain expertise in many
 specialized ares of pediatric care.  Dr. Larry Shapiro, chairman
 of UCSF's Department of Pediatrics, said the partnership "will
 reshape specialized medical care for children throughout Northern
 California" (9/22).
      POINT, COUNTERPOINT
      Proponents of the merger claim that the partnership will
 "give the new corporation more power to bargain with managed-care
 firms and would reduce costs."  Opponents of the merger contend
 the new partnership will result in "job losses and lower quality
 of care."  Critics also contend that the board of regents does
 not have the requisite legal power to approve the merger
 (Seligman/Hatfield, San Francisco Examiner, 9/22).  Frank Clark
 Jr., one of the four regents who voted against the merger,
 claimed that the merger violates the state's constitution "by
 privatizing a public entity."  Clark said, "You can't privatize a
 branch of the state government. ... [W]e're a branch of the
 government" (Krieger, 9/22).  Click here for the latest story
 about how California's political leaders are approaching the
 merger.