May 30, 2007
News About UHW |
- Kaiser Permanente and the coalition of labor unions, including UHW, that represent Kaiser employees, will donate $450,000 over three years to fund a healthcare institute dedicated to educating labor leaders and union members on labor issues. (Sacramento Business Journal, 5/25, p. 10)
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- Enloe Medical Center in Chico begins negotiations with UHW. (Chico Beat, 5/25)
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- Letter from a Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital employee points out St. Joseph Health System's violations of its code of conduct. Diocese of Santa Rosa adopts "A Just and Fair Workplace: Principles and Practices for Catholic Health Care". Msgr. John Brenkle, who announced adoption of the guidelines says there is a disconnect between the code and St. Joseph's actions. (Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 5/28; Catholic San Francisco, 5/25)
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- UHW, CNA and Latino Health Access say they will ask the state Attorney General's office to block the sale of Anaheim Memorial Medical Center to Dr. Prem Reddy; conversion of hospital to a for-profit operation requires approval. (Orange County Register, 5/24)
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- UHW members at Piedmont Gardens and Grand Lake Gardens retirement homes strike for two days; both homes are owned and operated by American Baptist Homes of the West. (Montclarion, 5/25)
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Bay Area Healthcare News |
- Letter points to "troubling track record" of Palo Alto Medical Foundation's parent corporation, Sutter Health. Another letter is also critical of the proposed PAMF hospital in San Carlos. (San Mateo Daily Journal, 4/24; 4/30)
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- California Pacific Medical Center, Mills-Peninsula Hospital, and Catholic Healthcare West make list of "Best Places to Work in the Bay Area". (San Francisco Business Times, April 27-May 3)
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- Some doctors say that providing health coverage to all the uninsured in San Mateo County could make it harder for people to see doctors because of a shortage of primary care physicians. (San Francisco Examiner, 5/24)
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- Study finds that large hospitals in California do a better job of caring for high-risk babies. High-volume NICUs at UCSF Medical Center, Alta Bates Medical Center and other large hospitals provide the best care. (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/24, p. B1)
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- Healdsburg District Hospital starts capital campaign to raise $14.5 million for seismic retrofitting, upgraded computers and new radiology equipment. (San Francisco Business Times, May 25-31, p. 17)
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- UC Board of Regents gives UCSF Medical Center the go-ahead to raise $500 million or more to build a $1.3 billion, 289 UCSF Medical Center facility at Mission Bay. (San Francisco Business Times, May 25-31, p. 54)
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- Kaiser Permanente's Sidney R. Garfield Health Care Innovation Center functions as a laboratory for new design elements, technologies and approaches. (San Francisco Business Times , May 4-10, p. 10)
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- List of the largest health plans in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties ranked by enrollment; Kaiser Foundation Health Plan tops the list. (Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, 5/18)
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- Sutter Health purchases Marin Square Shopping Center; concern expressed that Sutter may try to compete with Marin General Hospital. (Marin Independent Journal, 5/26)
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- Sonoma Valley Healthcare Coalition is scheduled to present its final recommendation for a new hospital to replace Sonoma Valley Hospital. (Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 5/30)
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- Triad Partners wins approval from Dublin City Council to build a six-story 100-bed hospital; it's not known what kind of hospital would be built or whether a medical office building will be built instead. (East Bay Business Times, 5/25)
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- Future is uncertain for popular midwife program at St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco. (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/29, p. A1)
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Los Angeles Area Healthcare News |
- "Escaping with his life: MLK-Harbor's got a new name, the nightmare sounds the same". Hospital fails to transfer patient in urgent need of surgery. (L.A. Weekly, 5/23)
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- Doctors who own a majority of Integrated Healthcare Holdings Inc. file suit to oust company's top management. IHHI owns four hospitals with 12% of Orange County's hospital beds. (Orange County Register, 5/24)
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- Los Angeles County supervisor Yvonne Burke calls for mandatory customer service training for some employees at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital; action follows death of woman with severe abdominal pain which was not treated by hospital's ER. (Los Angeles Times, 5/26)
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- Torrance-based HealthCare Partners Medical Group, California's largest private physician practice, posts prices of its medical procedures on its Web site. (Los Angeles Times, 5/28)
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- Los Angeles County will have to pay as much as $20.3 billion for retiree healthcare costs over the next 30 years. (Los Angeles Times, 5/30)
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California Healthcare News |
- UNAC files complaint against Sharp HealthCare with state officials requesting that Sharp's nonprofit status be revoked for not providing sufficient charity care. UNAC represents 3300 Sharp nurses. Sharp devotes an average of only .48% of operating expenses to charity care, much lower than its peers of comparable size. (San Diego Business Journal, 5/28)
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- State appellate court rules that San Diego County cannot deny medical care to thousands of poor adults with serious illnesses because their incomes exceed a $1,078 monthly cap. (San Diego Union-Tribune, 5/24)
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- San Diego County's In-Home Supportive Services program does a poor job of screening prospective employees and fails to check up on them once they are hired. (San Diego Union-Tribune, 5/24)
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- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger accuses Blue Cross of California of trying to scare people about his healthcare plan. Blue Cross ads attempt to sway public against governor's proposals. Insurance mandate is at the heart of Governor's plan; number of underinsured could grow if governor's plan is approved. (West County Times, 5/25, p. A9; San Francisco Chronicle, 5/26, p. C1; San Diego Union-Tribune, 5/29)
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- Legislators are dealing with four healthcare reform proposals; Sheila Kuehl's single-payer plan; plans by Democratic leaders Don Perata and Fabian Nunez; and Gov. Schwarzenegger's plan. All call for employers to pay some of the cost. (Ventura County Star, 5/28)
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- "Health system baffles even bigwigs; If legislators need help, what about the rest of us, advocates ask". (Sacramento Bee, 5/29)
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- CNA joins the AFL-CIO. Nurse from San Diego is one of four nurses elected to CNA's Council of Presidents. (Sacramento Business Journal, 5/25, p. 5; San Diego Business Journal, 5/28)
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- "State licensing backlog keeps lab technicians in short supply". (Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, 5/18, p. 3)
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- Fresno County officials and representatives of Community Medical Centers agree Friday to ask state and federal regulators to allow the hospital to keep $18 million. (Fresno Bee , 5/26)
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- Health services and psychiatric care strain the Stanislaus County budget; county's psychiatric hospital, Stanislaus Behavioral Health Center, is expected to be sold to Tenet Healthcare. (Modesto Bee , 5/26)
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- Inland Empire hospitals, including Parkview Community Hospital in Riverside and St. Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino, find that specialty surgeries help financially. (Riverside Press-Enterprise , 5/26)
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- San Joaquin General Hospital is seeing fewer patients this year compared to last year; hospital is facing a $17 million deficit. (Stockton Record , 5/27)
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- State's legislative analyst says California faces a shortfall of 12,000 full-time RNs in seven years unless state universities and community colleges admit more nursing students and reduce dropout rates. (Sacramento Bee , 5/30)
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National Healthcare News |
- Senator Hillary Clinton says he will support reducing healthcare costs through disease prevention. (New York Times , 5/25; Los Angeles Times , 5/25; Wall Street Journal, 5/25, p. A16)
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- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama unveils plan to cut healthcare costs and expand insurance coverage; plan is short on specifics. "Why Health Care No Longer Makes Politicians Leery: Shift in Public Attitudes Since '94 Clinton Fiasco Emboldens Candidates". (San Francisco Chronicle [Los Angeles Times], 5/30, p. A4; New York Times , 5/30; Wall Street Journal, 5/30, p. 1)
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- SEC gives Tenet Healthcare protection against shareholder lawsuits even though it is being punished for fraud. (Los Angeles Times , 5/25)
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- AFL-CIO and other unions in Nevada push for bill that would ensure that workers in Nevada who are locked out can collect unemployment benefits during lockouts. Editorial opposes legislation. (Las Vegas Review-Journa l [Associated Press], 5/12; 5/17 )
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- "Sicker and more expensive, but the minute". Commonwealth Fund finds that United States ranks dead last in quality and value of healthcare when compared to similarly industrialized wealthy countries. (Sacramento News & Review, 5/27)
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- "'Sicko', Castro and the '120 Years Club'; Is Michael Moore right about long life in Cuba?" (New York Times, 5/27, p. 3)
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Bay Area Labor News |
- Dennis Kelly, president of United Educators of San Francisco, says negotiations with the San Francisco Unified School District have reached impasse after the district made an insulting offer. (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/25, p. B9)
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Los Angeles Area Labor News |
- Los Angeles County Federation of Labor drops support for state Sen. Jenny Oropeza and endorses her opponent assemblywoman Laura Richardson in race to succeed late Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald. (Long Beach Press Telegram, 5/24)
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- UFCW members rally outside an Albertson's store in Santa Ana, with support from members of other unions, from clergy and from local elected officials, to express their frustration over the slow pace of contract negotiations with supermarket chains. (Orange County Register, 5/25)
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California Labor News |
- Students and workers at UC Davis Medical Center block main administration building to demand that the administration drop Sodexho, their food service contractor, which pays low wages and provides insufficient benefits. (Sacramento Bee, 5/24, p. B3)
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National Labor News |
- "Prez on the Rez" Democratic presidential debate sponsor says UNITE HERE is trying to derail a Democratic forum on an Indian reservation where the tribal-owned casino has strongly opposed unionization. (Los Angeles Times, 5/24)
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- "Work in Progress: The State of the Unions Two Years after the AFL-CIO Split". (Dissent, Spring)
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- Congress passes minimum wage increase tied to $4.84 billion in tax breaks for small businesses. Minimum wage will rise to $7.25 in two years; seven states already have minimum wages higher than $7.25. (New York Times, 5/25)
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