Axis Community Health, Pleasanton
Axis Community Health has received a $175,000 grant from the California Wellness Foundation to provide health care to 350 additional residents in the area, the Contra Costa Times reports. The grant will provide the system with about $58,000 annually over three years.
Axis provides medical and mental health care, as well as substance abuse and health education services to uninsured and underinsured individuals in the Alameda County region (Chua, Contra Costa Times, 7/7).
Chinese Hospital, San Francisco
On Wednesday, Chinese Hospital officials announced that the See Yip Chinese Merchants Association is donating a building to help fund the facility's $160 million reconstruction project, the San Francisco Business Times reports. Officials said the building is worth more than $1 million.
Plans for the replacement facility include a 22-bed skilled nursing unit and an imaging unit. Officials expect the project to be completed within five years (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 7/7).
County-USC Medical Center, Los Angeles
On Tuesday, Los Angeles County supervisors introduced a proposal to study a plan to add 150 beds to County-USC Medical Center, which has faced challenges with overcrowding since it relocated to its current facility in 2008, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The proposal would call on county officials to estimate costs, identify funding sources and recommend locations for an expanded hospital wing within 90 days. Officials are expected to vote on the measure as early as next week (Lin, Los Angeles Times, 7/7).
Enloe Medical Center, Chico
Enloe Medical Center has begun its seventh expansion, which includes a new tower, surgery center and emergency department, among other additions, the Chico Enterprise-Record reports.
Enloe also is upgrading the building housing its surgery and radiology departments to meet state seismic safety requirements. As part of the reconstruction, the facility is adding a CT scanner and MRI, as well as new X-ray room equipment (Mitchell, Chico Enterprise-Record, 7/7).
Frank Kiang Medical Center, Oakland
On Wednesday, Asian Health Services held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Frank Kiang Medical Center, a new primary care facility that will provide services in English and eight Asian languages, the Contra Costa Times reports. The new center is the fourth branch of Asian Health Services.
Frank Kiang Medical Center has been open on a part-time basis since June 1 and began operating full time last week. The facility offers group counseling and information on exercise, nutrition and other lifestyle issues.
The center was constructed using $1 million from the 2009 federal economic stimulus package and an additional $275,000 earmark secured by U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) (Sutton, Contra Costa Times, 7/7).
Marshall Medical Center, Placerville
Marshall Medical Center's emergency department in Placerville is in violation of several federal and state regulations and could lose its Medicare and Medicaid funding, according to a state investigation and CMS, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The California Department of Public Health investigated the facility after a woman fled the emergency department and stole an ambulance (Hubert, Sacramento Bee, 7/2).
Mercy Medical Center Merced
The former Mercy Medical Center Merced, a facility that served as a hospital for more than 50 years until Mercy constructed a new building in North Merced, is returning to the county's possession soon, the Merced Sun-Star reports.
According to the county, Mercy still has to work out the final details of the exchange and transfer equipment before the county will take possession of the facility (Reiter, Merced Sun-Star, 7/1).
Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center, Riverside
Officials at Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center are working to secure a federal loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to improve the hospital's access to capital, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.
Last week, a group of unidentified lenders from private institutions, national health plans and local physicians loaned Parkview $27.5 million to help the facility pay off its debt to Prime Healthcare Services and allow it to avoid foreclosure.
HUD officials recently announced that Parkview is in the final stages of its application for the federal loan program. If Parkview is accepted, HUD would become the hospital's new lender (Hines, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 7/3).
Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital
Last week, Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital said it is offering buyouts to 138 employees to help offset a $5 million drop in revenue last year, the Salinas Californian reports.
Recipients of the buyouts would be nonunion employees, primarily those who work in management and support services. SVMH estimates that the buyout could help the hospital reduce spending by $4 million.
SVMH spokesperson Adrienne Laurent said the response deadline for the voluntary offers is July 16. She added that the hospital will continue to see the same number of patients after the buyouts (Hornick, Salinas Californian, 7/2).
Stanford Hospitals & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Palo Alto
On Tuesday, Palo Alto planning and transportation commissioners held a hearing to discuss and gather comments on the possible environmental impact of Stanford University's planned hospital expansion project, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Commissioners also will consider alternative project proposals that aim preserve protected trees and maintain the historic buildings. In total, the commission will consider seven alternatives designed to accommodate some of Stanford's objectives and some of the city's objectives (Dungan, San Jose Mercury News, 7/6).
Sutter Roseville Medical Center
Last week, about 150 registered nurses and union supporters rallied at Sutter Roseville Medical Center for support during contract negotiations with the hospital, the Sacramento Business Journal reports.
Their contract was set to expire last Thursday. The California Nurses Association has participated in roughly 10 negotiating sessions with the hospital since mid-April and has yet to make significant progress (Robertson, Sacramento Business Journal, 7/1).