August 9, 2012California HealthCare Foundation - Center for Health Reporting
California hospitals registered a 10-percent decrease last year in a deadly kind of health care-acquired infection that can strike critically ill patients who must be fed or medicated with catheters, according to a new report released today by the state Department of Public Health.
Nearly 400 hospitals across California have pledged their support for the national Partnership for Patients program. The goal of this bold partnership is to further reduce hospital acquired-conditions and readmissions by 2014. California is the largest state to achieve such broad support for this federal patient safety and quality initiative.
Two Valley Assembly members and hospital administrators on Friday urged Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature to spare cuts to hospitals statewide for services to low-income nursing home patients.
The future is dire for some hospitals and skilled-nursing facilities unless state lawmakers and the governor act to continue Medi-Cal funding, said Sharon Spurgeon, CEO and administrator for Coalinga Regional Medical Center.
Two bills repealing the 2011 Medi-Cal provider reimbursement rate reductions have sailed through California legislative committees so far in an unusual way: They’ve been approved with unanimous votes in both houses from both parties.
KRCR News coverage: Northern California’s hospital leaders gathered on May 17, 2013, urging legislators to restore funding for hospital-based skilled-nursing facilities. Mayers Memorial Hospital CEO Matt Rees says his facility will close if planned cuts to Medi-Cal take effect.
Broadcast on KSFN Fresno News on May 17, 2013, this clip highlights some of the challenges faced by hospital-based skilled-nursing facilities in the wake of massive Medi-Cal cuts.
Deep Medi-Cal cuts to hospital-based skilled-nursing facilities are not just bad for patients, their families and health care providers. They also pose a risk to the state’s overall economy. The cuts could translate into a loss of up to 36,000 jobs (16,000 direct caregiver jobs, plus the ripple effect in the broader economy) and a decline of up to $2 billion in statewide economic activity. These cuts are a classic example of the state being “penny-wise and pound-foolish.”
