State Unlikely To Intervene in Tenet Hospital Sales, Attorney General Says , -AND- California Healthline Rounds Up Recent Coverage of Proposed Budget Cuts to Health Programs

CAL/AAEM News Service calaaem_news@yahoo.com
Mon, 15 Mar 2004 11:24:02 -0800 (PST)


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Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 13:43:47 -0500

From: California Healthline 

Subject: Today's California Healthline

To: CALIFORNIAHEALTHLINEHTML@MAILINGS.ADVISORY.COM

 

 

 

State Unlikely To Intervene in Tenet Hospital Sales, Attorney General Says  

03/08/2004 

 

 

State officials are unlikely to intervene in the sale of Tenet Healthcare hospitals in Southern California, and the Legislature is not expected to enact laws limiting ownership of area hospitals, Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D) said at a Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Commission hearing on Thursday, the Pasadena Star-News reports. When the decision to sell the facilities was announced in late January, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors scheduled the hearing, which supervisors, physicians, fire chiefs and health care advocates from Los Angeles and Orange counties attended (Rester, Pasadena Star-News, 3/4). Nineteen hospitals are up for sale; all but one is located in Los Angeles or Orange counties (California Healthline, 2/5). The boards of supervisors for the counties have sent a joint letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) requesting that he relax nurse-patient ratio regulations implemented in January and allocate funds to help hospitals comply w!
 ith state
 seismic retrofitting requirements. Both pieces of legislation factored into Tenet's decision to sell the hospitals, according to officials. The medical services commission this month also is expected to unveil to the Los Angeles County board recommendations for further action. In addition, Assembly member Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) plans to introduce legislation that would require state oversight for sales of for-profit hospitals similar to the oversight required in sales of not-for-profit hospitals. 

 

Possibility for Hospital Closures  

 

Dr. Stephen Newman, CEO of Tenet California, said that more than 300 inquiries have been made about the hospitals, and more than 90 of the potential buyers have said they would keep hospitals and employees "as they are," the Star-News reports (Pasadena Star-News, 3/4). He also has said that buyers would be required to pledge to operate the hospitals as acute care centers as a condition of sale; retain a majority of current staff; and honor contracts with the Service Employees International Union and the California Nurses Association. Tenet officials said that if any facilities do not sell by the December 2004 deadline, the company would work with local not-for-profit organizations to issue bonds and keep those hospitals operational (California Healthline, 2/5). If any of the hospitals are closed, nearby medical facilities and emergency departments would have to absorb more patients, which would increase waiting room times in emergency rooms and increase travel time for param!
 edics,
 health officials said during the hearing (Pasadena Star-News, 3/4). 

 

===================================================================

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2004 13:43:47 -0500
From: California Healthline 
Subject: Today's California Healthline
To: CALIFORNIAHEALTHLINEHTML@MAILINGS.ADVISORY.COM

 

California Healthline Rounds Up Recent Coverage of Proposed Budget Cuts to Health Programs  

03/08/2004 

 

 

Health Access California, a coalition of social service organizations, on Thursday said that it would oppose Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) "plans to cut millions of dollars from health care programs that serve children and the elderly," the AP/Riverside Press-Enterprise reports (AP/Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/4). Schwarzenegger's $99.1 billion proposal for fiscal year 2003-2004 midyear budget cuts would reduce state expenditures for health care programs by more than $900 million, with about $880 million in reductions for Medi-Cal (California Healthline, 2/27). Coalition leaders said they are prepared to bring "thousands" of people to Sacramento to rally in support of Medi-Cal, the AP/Press-Enterprise reports. Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, said that the March 2 statewide election in which voters approved Propositions 57 and 58 "was not a mandate for cuts," adding, "If anything, it was a mandate against the Armageddon cuts that the governor threaten!
 ed if his
 bonds were not passed" (AP/Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/4). 

 

 

Change in Democrats' Budget Strategy?  

 

Democrats in the Legislature will "take a page out of Schwarzenegger's playbook" by "embracing a strategy that looks for waste first and relies heavily on economic arguments," rather than proposing new taxes, to avoid the governor's proposed budget cuts, the Los Angeles Times reports. Democrats plan to work with the governor over the coming months in a series of "efficiency" meetings to "aggressively and publicly go after waste themselves," the Times reports. They also plan to "put a human face on the cuts" by profiling families that would be affected by the governor's proposed cuts to human services and educational programs. On Friday, legislators revealed their new approach in a daylong hearing at the Los Angeles Valley College. During the hearing, a mother of a disabled child "praised a state program that pays family members to care for a chronically ill or disabled relative." In addition, Kristen Testa, an advocate for Children's Partnership, warned that the governor's p!
 roposed
 cap on Healthy Families would "lock out" 300,000 children, and Dr. Peter Gruen, president-elect of County-USC Medical Center, said that Schwarzenegger's proposal to cut Medi-Cal's doctor reimbursement rates by 10% would "deny poor Latinos and African Americans access to health care," the Times reports (Halper/Rabin, Los Angeles Times, 3/8).  






Cyrus Shahpar and Brian Potts
Managing Editors, CAL/AAEM News Service 
UC-Irvine


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<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Date: <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:date Month="3" Day="8" Year="2004">Mon, 8 Mar 2004</st1:date> <st1:time Hour="13" Minute="43">13:43:47</st1:time> -0500<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">From: California Healthline <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Subject: Today's <st1:State><st1:place>California</st1:place></st1:State> Healthline<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">To: CALIFORNIAHEALTHLINEHTML@MAILINGS.ADVISORY.COM<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">State Unlikely To Intervene in <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Tenet</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>Hospital</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> Sales, Attorney General Says<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><st1:date Month="3" Day="8" Year="2004">03/08/2004</st1:date> <o:p></o:p></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">State officials are unlikely to intervene in the sale of Tenet Healthcare hospitals in Southern California, and the Legislature is not expected to enact laws limiting ownership of area hospitals, Attorney General Bill Lockyer (D) said at a Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Commission hearing on Thursday, the Pasadena Star-News reports. When the decision to sell the facilities was announced in late January, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors scheduled the hearing, which supervisors, physicians, fire chiefs and health care advocates from <st1:City><st1:place>Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:City> and <st1:City><st1:place>Orange</st1:place></st1:City> counties attended (Rester, Pasadena Star-News, 3/4). Nineteen hospitals are up for sale; all but one is located in <st1:City><st1:place>Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:City> or <st1:City><st1:place>Orange</st1:place></st1:City> counties (California Healthline, 2/5). The !
 boards of
 supervisors for the counties have sent a joint letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) requesting that he relax nurse-patient ratio regulations implemented in January and allocate funds to help hospitals comply with state seismic retrofitting requirements. Both pieces of legislation factored into Tenet's decision to sell the hospitals, according to officials. The medical services commission this month also is expected to unveil to the <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Los Angeles</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> board recommendations for further action. In addition, Assembly member Judy Chu (<st1:place><st1:PlaceName>D-Monterey</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>Park</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>) plans to introduce legislation that would require state oversight for sales of for-profit hospitals similar to the oversight required in sales of not-for-profit hospitals. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Possibility for Hospital Closures<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Dr. Stephen Newman, CEO of Tenet California, said that more than 300 inquiries have been made about the hospitals, and more than 90 of the potential buyers have said they would keep hospitals and employees "as they are," the Star-News reports (Pasadena Star-News, 3/4). He also has said that buyers would be required to pledge to operate the hospitals as acute care centers as a condition of sale; retain a majority of current staff; and honor contracts with the Service Employees International Union and the California Nurses Association. Tenet officials said that if any facilities do not sell by the December 2004 deadline, the company would work with local not-for-profit organizations to issue bonds and keep those hospitals operational (California Healthline, 2/5). If any of the hospitals are closed, nearby medical facilities and emergency departments would have to absorb more patients, which would increase waiting room times in eme!
 rgency
 rooms and increase travel time for paramedics, health officials said during the hearing (Pasadena Star-News, 3/4). <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">===================================================================<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>Date: <st1:date Month="3" Day="8" Year="2004">Mon, 8 Mar 2004</st1:date> <st1:time Hour="13" Minute="43">13:43:47</st1:time> -0500<BR>From: <st1:State><st1:place>California</st1:place></st1:State> Healthline <CALIFORNIAHEALTHLINE@ADVISORY.COM><BR>Subject: Today's <st1:State><st1:place>California</st1:place></st1:State> Healthline<BR>To: <A href="mailto:CALIFORNIAHEALTHLINEHTML@MAILINGS.ADVISORY.COM">CALIFORNIAHEALTHLINEHTML@MAILINGS.ADVISORY.COM</A><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><st1:State><st1:place>California</st1:place></st1:State> Healthline Rounds Up Recent Coverage of Proposed Budget Cuts to Health Programs<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><st1:date Month="3" Day="8" Year="2004">03/08/2004</st1:date> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Health Access California, a coalition of social service organizations, on Thursday said that it would oppose Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) "plans to cut millions of dollars from health care programs that serve children and the elderly," the AP/Riverside Press-Enterprise reports (AP/Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/4). Schwarzenegger's $99.1 billion proposal for fiscal year 2003-2004 midyear budget cuts would reduce state expenditures for health care programs by more than $900 million, with about $880 million in reductions for Medi-Cal (California Healthline, 2/27). Coalition leaders said they are prepared to bring "thousands" of people to <st1:City><st1:place>Sacramento</st1:place></st1:City> to rally in support of Medi-Cal, the AP/Press-Enterprise reports. Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access, said that the March 2 statewide election in which voters approved Propositions 57 and 58 "was not a mandate for cuts," ad!
 ding, "If
 anything, it was a mandate against the Armageddon cuts that the governor threatened if his bonds were not passed" (AP/Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/4). <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Change in Democrats' Budget Strategy?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Democrats in the Legislature will "take a page out of Schwarzenegger's playbook" by "embracing a strategy that looks for waste first and relies heavily on economic arguments," rather than proposing new taxes, to avoid the governor's proposed budget cuts, the Los Angeles Times reports. Democrats plan to work with the governor over the coming months in a series of "efficiency" meetings to "aggressively and publicly go after waste themselves," the Times reports. They also plan to "put a human face on the cuts" by profiling families that would be affected by the governor's proposed cuts to human services and educational programs. On Friday, legislators revealed their new approach in a daylong hearing at the <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Los Angeles</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>Valley</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceType>College</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. During the hearing, a mother of a disabled child "praised a state program that pays f!
 amily
 members to care for a chronically ill or disabled relative." In addition, Kristen Testa, an advocate for Children's Partnership, warned that the governor's proposed cap on Healthy Families would "lock out" 300,000 children, and Dr. Peter Gruen, president-elect of County-USC Medical Center, said that Schwarzenegger's proposal to cut Medi-Cal's doctor reimbursement rates by 10% would "deny poor Latinos and African Americans access to health care," the Times reports (Halper/Rabin, Los Angeles Times, 3/8).<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></FONT></P></FONT></DIV></DIV><BR><BR><DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=arial><FONT size=3><STRONG>Cyrus Shahpar and Brian Potts</STRONG></FONT></FONT><FONT face=arial><FONT size=3><STRONG><BR>Managing Editors, CAL/AAEM News Service</STRONG> <BR>UC-Irvine</FONT></FONT></DIV></DIV><p><font face=arial size=-1>Do you Yahoo!?<br>
<a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mailtag_us/*http://mail.yahoo.com" target="_blank"><b>Yahoo! Mail</a></b> - More reliable, more storage, less spam
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