December 21, 2015 | VOLUME 22 | NUMBER 48 TOP STORIES To our Readers and Advertisers BlueMountain and Daughters of California HealthFax will not publish on Monday, December 28, in observance of Charity Complete Affiliation Deal Christmas Day. Publication will resume on Monday, January 4. We hope you have a Daughters of Charity renamed Verity Health System Merry Christmas and a great holiday season. BlueMountain Capital Management and the Daughters of Charity Health System (DCHS) completed their affiliation deal under conditions required by state attorney general Kamala Harris. The New York City–based hedge fund and Los Altos–based DCHS finalized Published Monday, California Healthfax is their partnership on Dec 14. Under terms of the deal, DCHS has been renamed copyrighted by HealthLeaders Media, a division of BLR, 75 Sylvan St., Suite A-101, Danvers, Verity Health System. BlueMountain has pledged to invest up to $260 million MA 01923, and is transmitted solely to the sub- to fund capital improvements and debt reduction for Verity and can exercise an scriber. Any unauthorized copying, duplication or option to buy the health system after three years. transmission is strictly prohibited. Subscriptions “We thank Attorney General Harris for approving this transaction,” said for- are $179 for 48 issues. For group and bulk sub- scriptions, call 800-650-6787. mer DCHS president and CEO Robert Issai, who has stepped down as CEO. “This large infusion of capital will provide a great jump-start on the many strategic, CUSTOMER SERVICE CENTER operational, and capital initiatives desperately needed at our hospitals.” E-mail Subscribers: If you do A division of BlueMountain called Integrity Health took over day-to-day not receive your copy of HealthFax, operations on December 14. Integrity Health is headed by new CEO Mitchell send a request to: [email protected]. For renewals or other subscription questions, Creem, who has 33 years of experience in the California healthcare industry that please call: 800-650-6787. By fax: 866-592-7573. includes executive posts at Keck Hospital of USC and the UCLA Health System. By e-mail: [email protected]. Integrity Health said it will honor all existing labor agreements at DCHS and pre- serve the pensions of the health system’s more than 17,000 employees. The hospi- EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS To submit an item for consideration, con- tals will no longer have a Catholic affiliation but Verity Health will remain a not-for- tact Doug Desjardins, Editor. By e-mail: profit health system and be governed by an independent board of directors. [email protected]. By phone: 760-696-3931. “Verity will proudly continue the mission of care begun by Daughters of For other questions, contact Bob Wertz, Managing Charity more than 150 years ago,” said Creem, adding that Verity “will expand and Editor. By phone: 800-639-7477, ext. 3456. create new clinical programs” for its hospitals. The name change is already in place By e-mail: [email protected] at the health system’s website. Verity Health System includes 384-bed St. Francis Medical Center in ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES Lynwood; 366-bed St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles; 358-bed O’Connor To advertise in California Healthfax, please contact Susan by Hospital in San Jose; 357-bed Seton Medical Center in Daly City; 93-bed Saint e-mail: [email protected]. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy, and 116-bed Seton Coastside in Moss Beach. By phone: 978-624-4594. « CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 » TO SEE ADDITIONAL JOB OPPORTUNITIES SEARCH NOW — please visit CA Jobs online at — PAGE 2 WWW.HEALTHLEADERSMEDIA.COM/CALIFORNIA-JOBS For subscription services, call 800-753-0131 December 21, 2015 IN BRIEF TOP STORIES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 BlueMountain And Daughters cont. ° Kaiser Permanente plans to build a medical school in Southern California Harris approved the affiliation deal on December 3 contingent on a list of with a projected opening date in 2019. conditions that includes keeping St. Vincent Medical Center open with all existing According to a Dec. 17 report in the Los services for at least five years and all other hospitals open for at least 10 years. Angeles Times, Kaiser has not selected During that time, the hospitals must maintain current levels of charity care and a site for the medical school campus or honor all existing Medi-Cal contracts. “This approval includes strong conditions that will maintain the charitable determined how large it will be. Kaiser purpose of the Daughters of Charity Health System, ensuring that low-income Permanente chairman and chief execu- Californians will continue to have access to critical healthcare services, includ- tive Bernard Tyson said the medical ing emergency, trauma, surgical, and reproductive health services,” Harris said school will allow Kaiser to train physi- in a statement. cians its own way. “We have the oppor- DCHS was in poor financial shape and losing up to $10 million per month in tunity to help train future physicians on 2014 when it began exploring a merger or affiliation with a larger partner. The 21st century medicine and be on the health system attributed its financial woes in part to a patient mix made up largely cutting edge of all the changes we are of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and a high percentage of uninsured experiencing,” said Tyson. “Our model patients. It explored a merger with Ascension Health but began looking else- of care is best for current and future where in late 2014 when those merger talks fell apart. diverse populations in this country.” DCHS signed a deal with Prime Healthcare Services in late 2014 but the deal fell through in March 2015 when Prime chose not to pursue the acquisition. ° Beverly Hospital in Los Angeles Prime cited the attorney general’s mandate that Prime keep five DCHS hospitals secured a $39.7 million bond from the open for at least 10 years as a deal-breaker. But patient advocates said that condi- California Statewide Communities tion is essential to ensuring continued access to care for residents in communities Development Authority. Beverly served by DCHS. “We think it’s appropriate for the attorney general to impose similar condi- Hospital CEO Alice Cheng said the tions on this deal as she did on the previous proposal to sell to Prime Healthcare,” bond will be used to reduce debt and said Tam Ma, policy counsel for patient advocacy group Health Access fund capital improvements for the hos- California.—DOUG DESJARDINS pital. “This is a significant milestone in the history of Beverly Hospital as well as a pledge to our patients and Nurse at Santa Clara Valley Medical the communities we serve,” said Cheng. “The bond will allow us to expand our Center Diagnosed With Tuberculosis key services, including our emergency department and maternity unit, and More than 1,000 people potentially exposed will allow us to continue our mission Santa Clara Valley Medical Center officials said more than 1,000 people may as an independent, nonprofit hospi- have been exposed to tuberculosis in the maternity ward of the hospital by a nurse tal for many years to come.” Officials who was diagnosed with the disease in mid-November. for the 247-bed hospital say plans call Hospital officials estimate that 1,026 people may have been exposed during for spending $36.7 million on capital a two-month period. They include 350 infants, 368 parents, and 308 employees. improvements through fiscal 2018. Santa Clara Valley officials said they are contacting all staff members, patients, and visitors who may have been exposed during the period. A spokesperson for « CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 » « CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 » HIRE POWER: HEALTHFAX CLASSIFIED ADS WORK! PAGE 3 CALL 978-624-4594 For subscription services, call 800-753-0131 December 21, 2015 TOP STORIES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 IN BRIEFContinued from page 2 Nurse at Santa Clara cont. ° Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Vallejo was fined nearly $150,000 for Santa Clara said “the vast majority” of potentially affected visitors and parents have problems related to its disposal of nee- been contacted but that the hospital is “still working on outreach” with others. As of dles. According to a report in the San December 17, no new cases of tuberculosis have been linked to the hospital. Jose Mercury News, the state Division Stephen Harris, MD, the chair of pediatrics at Santa Clara Valley, said of Occupational Safety and Health infants potentially exposed to tuberculosis are being monitored for the disease and conducted an investigation that found treated with isoniazid on a daily basis. Isoniazid is an antibiotic that kills tuberculo- Kaiser did not properly maintain a nee- dle collection box and that at least three sis and can prevent infants from becoming ill. Santa Clara officials said that while custodial employees at the hospital it’s “very unlikely that infants who may have been exposed will come down with were stuck by needles as a result. Since the disease,” the hospital must take every precaution. the inspection, Kaiser has replaced the “While the risk of infection is low, the consequences of tuberculosis in infants needle disposal box with two larger can be severe,” said Harris. “That’s why we decided to do widespread testing and units and requires them to be monitored start preventative treatment for these infants as soon as possible.” In infants every 30 minutes. whose immune systems are not fully developed, tuberculosis can spread from the lungs to other parts of the body. In older children and adults, it can be serious but ° The Petaluma Health Care District tends to stay confined to the respiratory system. Santa Clara officials said mothers this month launched a series of pub- and infants in the hospital’s Mother Infant Care Center may have been exposed lic hearings to help it select a com- from mid-August through mid-November.