MAY 12, 2014 | VOLUME 21 | NUMBER 18 TOP STORIES Doctors Medical Center Expected to Shut Down in July Parcel tax vote to finance San Pablo hospital fails Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo could close as early as July after voters in the West Contra Costa Healthcare District failed to support a new parcel tax needed to keep the hospital open. Only 51.9% of voters supported Measure C, which called for a new parcel tax Published every Monday, California Healthfax is of 14 cents per square foot of developed property. The measure required approval copyrighted by HealthLeaders Media, a division by at least two-thirds of the healthcare district’s voters to pass and would have of BLR, 75 Sylvan St., Suite A-101, Danvers, generated approximately $20 million per year for the cash-strapped, safety-net MA 01923, and is transmitted solely to the sub- hospital. scriber. Any unauthorized copying, duplication or “District voters have spoken,” said Eric Zell, chairman of the West Contra transmission is strictly prohibited. Annual sub- scriptions are $179. For group and bulk subscrip- Costa Healthcare District, which owns Doctors Medical Center. “Given the unsus- tions, call 800-650-6787. tainable operating losses—and despite all efforts to cut costs and bring in new revenue—it is now incumbent on hospital leadership and medical staff to prepare CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER for an orderly closure and to work with county public health officials on transition E-mail Subscribers: If you do of patient care.” not receive your copy of HealthFax, Under the current plan, which will require a vote by the district board of send a request to: [email protected]. directors to set in action, the last day of outpatient services and patient admissions For renewals or other subscription questions, for non-life-threatening conditions would be July 11, with a hospital closing date of please call: 800-650-6787. By fax: 866-592-7573. July 25. By e-mail: [email protected]. After the failure of Measure C, the California Nurses Association (CNA) EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS issued a statement saying that closing 189-bed Doctors Medical Center would cre- To submit an item for consideration, con- ate a “dire public health crisis,” because the hospital is home to 80% of the hospital tact Doug Desjardins, Editor. By e-mail: beds that serve the West Contra Costa County region. The CNA also said emer- [email protected]. By phone: 760-696-3931. gency care could be seriously impacted, since Doctors Medical Center has the larg- For other questions, contact Bob Wertz, Managing est emergency department in the area with 25 beds. Kaiser Permanente Medical Editor. By phone: 800-639-7477, ext. 3456. Center—Richmond, located about 5 miles away, is the next closest emergency By e-mail: [email protected] department, with 15 beds. An analysis by the Contra Costa County Department of Health Services ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES reached the same conclusion, suggesting the closure of Doctor’s Medical Center To advertise in California would be “catastrophic” for the region and overburden Kaiser Permanente’s hospi- Healthfax, please contact Susan by tal in Richmond. Doctor’s Medical Center opened in 1954 and serves approximately e-mail: [email protected]. 80,000 patients per year. By phone: 978-624-4594. « CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 » PAGE 2 OF 11 For subscription services, call 800-753-0131 May 12, 2014 IN BRIEF TOP STORIES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Doctors Medical cont. » The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) fined three hos- Doctors Medical Center has struggled with financial problems for more than a pitals a total of $275,000 for violat- decade due in large part to its patient mix. Approximately 75% of its patients are ing state health and safety codes. The Medi-Cal or Medicare beneficiaries and 11% are uninsured. largest fines of $100,000 and $75,000 Parcel tax measures to subsidize the hospital were approved by healthcare were assessed to Alta Bates Summit district voters in 2004 and 2011, with the latest measure approved by 71% of vot- Medical Center in Berkeley for not ers. But Measure C asked voters to approve a parcel tax that was nearly double the following policies on patient safety and cost of the previous two parcel tax measures combined, which generate about $11 evaluation and policies regarding safe million in annual revenue for the hospital. distribution of medications. Desert The hospital has been attempting to merge or affiliate with a larger hospital Regional Medical Center in Palm for years, with no success. That effort was made more difficult by the fact that Springs was fined $50,000 for failing Doctors Medical Center is saddled with millions of dollars in debt and serves few patients with private insurance. to follow patient fall-prevention poli- While the West Contra Costa Healthcare District board of directors must cies and Sutter General Hospital in still vote on the closure plan to set it in motion, there seems to be no viable option Sacramento was fined $50,000 for to keep the hospital open. Zell noted that the healthcare district board has “done actions related to an incident involving everything we can the past seven or eight years to pull a rabbit out of a hat. We’ve care of a patient who had suffered a fall. borrowed, cut salaries, and consolidated and it hasn’t been enough.” The hospitals are required to submit a In April, Palm Drive Hospital became the first hospital in the state to shut corrective action plan to the CDPH and down since April 2013. The 37-bed hospital located in Sebastopol was unable to have the right to appeal the penalties. acquire the funding it needed to continue operations or merge with a larger health system. —DOUG DESJARDINS » L.A. Care announced that its eCon- sult telemedicine program reached a milestone and has now provided more than 100,000 electronic consultations California Hospital Association and since its launch in 2012. The program used by more than 2,300 primary care Union Enter New Agreement physicians in 194 community clinics and SEIU drops two ballot measures as part of pact health centers in Los Angeles County allows providers to email patient data The state’s largest healthcare workers union has agreed to drop two hospital-relat- to specialists to determine if the patient ed ballot measures scheduled for November 2014 as part of a new agreement with needs an appointment with a medical the California Hospital Association (CHA). specialist to address a health prob- The partnership between the Service Employees International Union— lem. The program is designed to reduce United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) and the CHA will run through unnecessary visits and reduce patient 2017 and establish a $100 million advocacy fund to improve the state’s healthcare wait times for appointments with spe- system with a focus on reforming Medi-Cal. “CHA has been involved for several cialists. “Many thousands of underserved years in national efforts to address the complexities in hospital pricing and to patients throughout the county face sig- reform the payment structure of the Medicaid program,” said CHA president and nificant challenges getting the special- CEO C. Duane Dauner. “We are pleased that SEIU-UHW will join us in finding ty care that they need when they need workable solutions.” Though neither side released specific details about that effort, it’s likely to « CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 » « CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 » HIRE POWER: HEALTHFAX CLASSIFIED ADS WORK! PAGE 3 OF 11 CALL 978-624-4594 For subscription services, call 800-753-0131 May 12, 2014 TOP STORIES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 IN BRIEFContinued from page 2 California Hospital cont. it,” said L.A. Care CEO Howard Kahn. “eConsult has proven that it can improve focus on improving reimbursement rates. Dauner noted that the state of California care coordination and we’re excited that has the second-lowest Medicaid reimbursement rates in the nation and those rates more and more providers are adopting have a significant impact on healthcare costs and hospital operations. the technology.” SEIU-UHW president Dave Regan said the union, which represents approxi- mately 85,000 hospital employees in the state, will work with CHA to form better » Anthem Blue Cross has added another 128 pharmacies to its recent- working relations with hospitals. “We need to create a different sort of model that ly launched Anthem Neighborhood improves the way unions and hospitals work together,” said Regan. Pharmacy Network for Medi-Cal ben- The agreement includes a Code of Conduct provision that calls for both sides eficiaries. The majority of participants to move away from the “confrontational relationship that characterizes the majori- are independent pharmacies or small ty of employer-union relationships” and move toward “a basic set of common values chains but also include large retailers focused on creating a sustainable healthcare system that works for everyone.” such as Rite Aid, Walmart, and Costco. A key aspect of the new partnership is the SEIU’s agreement to drop two bal- Anthem estimates that 99% of its Medi- lot measures scheduled for November 2014. The Fair Healthcare Pricing Act of Cal beneficiaries live within one mile of a network pharmacy. “Through the 2014 would have prohibited hospitals from charging more than 25% above their new Anthem Neighborhood Pharmacy actual costs for care. The Charitable Hospital Executive Compensation Act of Network for Medi-Cal members, Anthem 2014 would have capped executive salaries at non-profit hospitals at $450,000 has introduced another initiative to slow per year. the growth in prescription drug costs In 2012, the SEIU and CHA formed a similar partnership that required the and provide another opportunity to ulti- SEIU to drop two ballot measures dealing with hospital pricing and charity care.