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On April 25, a love letter of sorts went out over social media to the community from over 100 Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital doctors, nurses and staff thanking residents for their support through gifts of food, face masks, and phone calls.

The letter was short, but full of gratitude: “To our community, we are truly honored to serve you. We want you to know that we are here for you. Thank you so much for the outpouring of love and support. Stay safe and be well.” (benitolink.com)

A $25 million project is now underway to retrofit Alameda Hospital, upgrades that are required by the state to remain licensed as a hospital with emergency room services.

The seismic work will take place in the hospital’s west building and is projected to be finished by October 2021, Jeanne Herrera, a spokeswoman for Alameda Health System, said on Friday. (Mercurynews.com)

Tulare Regional Medical Center (TRMC) put a lot of effort into healing itself during 2019, and the results are encouraging, says Tulare Adventist President Randy Dodd.

After reopening in October of 2018, 2019 marked the first full calendar year of operation for the resuscitated medical facility, a year that saw much of the new leadership’s efforts directed to undoing the damage to the Tulare Local Health Care District and the hospital’s reputation. (Ourvalleyvoice.com)

Sonoma Valley Hospital will begin construction next month on a new diagnostic center, hospital officials announced on Tuesday.

The first phase in building its $21 million diagnostic center will include a new CT scanner, a larger waiting room for patients and the beginnings of refurbishing existing space that housed the old emergency department. (Sonomanews.com)

Zero hour 2 a.m.

It was early Friday morning, and most of the city was asleep when Kern Medical, Bakersfield’s only trauma center and teaching hospital pulled the switch, fired up what they consider the Cadillac of medical record keeping, the Ferrari of digital patient information — and began a new era. (Bakersfield.com)

Over the past two months, Oakland-based Bay Area Community Services and Kaiser Permanente say they’ve found housing with social support services for more than 250 homeless individuals, and there’s more to come. (Bizjournals.com)

Valley Children’s Healthcare launched a new partnership today to address one of the most significant healthcare needs in the region.

Universal Health Services (UHS) will construct and operate the new 81,600 square foot, 128-bed behavioral health hospital, which will provide accessible, high-quality and advanced behavioral health services in the Central Valley. (Press Release)

Enloe Medical Center is training a dog in Chico to smell cancer.

The dog, named Enloe, has been in training for the last two years. But he doesn’t walk around smelling patients at the hospital. (KRCR)

Rural hospital closures increase patient mortality by nearly six percent, but urban closures have no measurable impact on patient outcomes, according to a study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. 
(Becker’s Hospital Review)

Valley Children’s extracorporeal life support (ECLS) program has received international recognition from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) as a Silver Level ELSO Award recipient. (The Business Journal)

Adventist Health Hanford is one of only 22 out of 514 hospitals across 40 states to receive an “Excellence in Patient Safety Across the Board Award” from a leading healthcare improvement company. (HanfordSentinel.com)

Among other after-effects of destructive flames that burned the Feather River Adventist Medical Center, the Camp Fire has changed another aspect of life in Butte County — where to give birth in the region. (Chico Enterprise-Record)

Aurora Santa Rosa Hospital, a freestanding acute psychiatric hospital in Santa Rosa, is growing in a health care segment that historically has been shrinking.

Aurora, which currently has 95 licensed beds, is adding another 49. And construction is underway on a building expansion that will double the size of Aurora’s outpatient program, adding 3,500 square feet.  (North Bay Business Journal)

Adventist Health Ukiah Valley received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines – Stroke Honor Roll Gold Quality Achievement Award. This award recognizes the hospital’s commitment to ensuring stroke patients receive the most appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines on the latest scientific evidence.  (The Ukiah Daily Journal)

Kaiser Permanente has helped usher about 300 homeless seniors off the streets of Oakland and into stable housing over the past six months — a milestone that means the healthcare giant is more than halfway to its ultimate goal.  (The Mercury News)

Trauma survivors met and thanked those who saved their lives at Mercy Medical Center in Redding during the first ever Trauma Survivor Luncheon on Monday.

Emergency room doctors, nurses, surgeons and paramedics all showed up to interact and meet some of the people who’s lives they’ve saved over the years.  (7 KRCR News)

Who needs a dog when you can pet a 12-foot Burmese python?

About 50 young patients at the Sutter Medical Center children’s center in Sacramento got an up-close look at the snake, an adult alligator, a porcupine, a penguin and other critters Thursday morning, when “animal ambassadors” from SeaWorld San Diego came for a visit.  (The Sacramento Bee)

Marshall Medical Center’s longtime CEO James Whipple is set to depart after nearly four decades with the hospital.

Whipple has led Placerville-based Marshall Medical for the last 16 years, and has spent 38 years with the hospital across his career. Previous to becoming CEO, he was the chief financial officer of the medical center.  (Sacramento Business Journal)

Kaiser Permanente’s Thrive Local initiative comes as more health systems are attempting to tackle social determinants of health and cut down on accompanying high medical utilization costs. (HealthcareDive)

The Sonoma Valley Hospital recently received certification as being “acute stroke ready” by the Center for Improvement in Healthcare Quality. The hospital received the certification based on its level of care – including its swift response and application of appropriate medication, according to SVH officials.  (Sonoma Index-Tribune)

Children with autism will now have a better experience when it comes to taking in the beauty, fun, and education of Fresno Chaffee Zoo. 

Together with Valley Children’s hospital, the zoo is launching ‘George’s Pass’, a program that will make the zoo more accessible and an inclusive place for families who have a child with autism.  (ABC30 Action News)

Enloe medical staff unveiled its new cutting-edge robotics program, allowing local surgeons to offer the most up-to-date surgical techniques.  (ActionNewsNow)

A new cancer care center has opened in Chico, staffed by doctors and nurses who worked through the Camp Fire at a hospital in Marysville to continue providing care for more than 100 cancer patients.

The new center in north Chico will provide access for patients who lost their care location when Adventist Health Feather River Cancer Center in Paradise was forced to close after the Camp Fire, and is dually sponsored by both UC Davis Health and Adventist Health.  (Enterprise-Record)

Upvalley workers and seniors will soon have a better pulse on their health and the means to possibly dodge a hospital visit down the road.

In its latest round of grant-giving to bolster healthcare for underserved populations in Napa County, the Napa Valley Vintners, a wine industry trade group, recently awarded $250,000 to the St. Helena Hospital Foundation.

The NVV’s grants tend to take aim at healthcare and education in the county, channeling funds into nonprofits providing services for children and the elderly.  (Napa Valley Register)

After they amputated the second toe on John Trumbla’s right foot last summer, doctors sent him to a nursing home because he still needed medical care — but not necessarily a hospital bed.

The proud, burly Army veteran resisted at first, but he didn’t have a choice. Before his hospitalization at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Trumbla, 56, and his wife had been homeless, crashing in his boss’s construction shop or living out of their station wagon.  (California Healthline)

Staff at Adventist Health’s Lodi Memorial Hospital are celebrating a major milestone. A new center for critically-ill newborns opened in January.

On Wednesday, doctors and nurses had a chance to reunite with their former patients.  (13 CBS Sacramento)

Becker’s Hospital Review recently published its 2019 edition of the “100 hospital and health system CIOs to know” list. It features some of the most impressive health IT leaders from around the country dedicated to advancements and innovation in the industry. Tahoe Forest Health System’s Chief Information and Innovation Officer, Jake Dorst, has been honored with this recognition.  (Tahoe Forest Health System)

Dignity Health announced Thursday it is distributing $1.05 million this year to dozens of community-based organizations in Nevada, Sacramento and Yolo counties to help meet community health needs outside its hospital walls.

The grants are going toward assisting the most vulnerable residents of the region: at-risk children, survivors of human and labor trafficking, individuals living with mental illness and dementia, the homeless and ethnic groups with high rates of chronic disease.  (The Sacramento Bee)

More than 30 hospitals across California, many in rural areas, will soon be able to treat patients for opioid withdrawal on the spot.

The state chose the hospitals for a federally-funded program that trains doctors on medication-assisted treatment. It’s a way of easing opioid withdrawal symptoms by giving someone a less addictive painkiller.  (Capital Public Radio)

Kaiser Permanente Fresno has announced an investment in the new initiative Street2Home — a countywide collaboration to combat homelessness.  (The Business Journal)

Just three short years ago the city of Willits received the gift of a state of the art hospital when Adventist Health Howard Memorial Hospital (HMH) was built. Today the 25-bed hospital is full most days as are the many physician rooms at the corresponding Redwood Medical Clinic. But, HMH president Jason Wells says growth is on the horizon.  (The Willits News)

The Oroville Hospital is undergoing a major expansion project that will double its size. The multi-million dollar expansion will double the size of the hospital, going from 133 beds to 211 beds.  (Action News Now)

Sitting in a living room in Oakland, a cute robot with giant eyes gazes at a 65-year-old with heart failure and asks how he’s doing, making conversation about the patient’s family and the weather while gathering daily details about his health.  (Fast Company)

Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health sealed the deal Friday on their prolonged courtship that lasted more than two years, according to the new system’s website. 

The Chicago-based not-for-profit system—now known as CommonSpirit Health—has 142 hospitals, 150,000 employees, nearly $30 billion in revenue and more than 700 care sites across 21 states, including 30 hospitals in California.  (Modern Healthcare)

Doctors Behavioral Health Center is now offering a new comprehensive, short-term outpatient therapy program for patients dealing with mental health issues.

The Partial Hospitalization Program helps patients whose psychiatric illness is impairing their ability to function successfully in their lives, and where traditional outpatient therapy services are not sufficient to meet their needs. Patients can access a variety of therapies and educational groups to understand their emotional challenges and improve their coping skills.  (PattersonIrrigator.com)

Like many health systems, Kaiser Permanente, though admittedly a multibillion dollar organization, faces challenges when faced with the complex duality of both living within their means and delivering the best possible care and meaningful services. They use the dollars they get to provide that care and keep the lights on so to speak, and it all comes from the same “pot.”  (HealthcareFinance)

Adventist Health and Rideout experienced a year of growth in 2018. The hospital will build off of its successes as it looks to expand its facilities around Yuba-Sutter. 

Rick Rawson, president of Adventist Health and Rideout, said details as to what an expansion could look like still need to be fleshed out, which will likely take place over the next several months. He said the ultimate goal is to increase access to services for Yuba-Sutter residents, not just people living in Marysville.  (Appeal-Democrat)

It’s a step in a new direction for the health of Salinas residents now that the Blue Zones Project is officially coming to town.

The project is a national health initiative based on the health habits of people in the world’s “Blue Zones,” those areas where people live longer than average with good quality of life.  (Monterey County Weekly)

Facing an end-of-the-year deadline to have all patients moved out of its 87-year-old Depression-era Towers Building, San Joaquin General Hospital is anticipating the opening this summer of its new $41 million Acute Care Patient Wing.

Construction began in 2017 just south of the county-run medical center’s main entrance and is about 90 percent complete, according to David Culberson, the hospital’s chief executive officer.  (Recordnet.com)

Stanford Children’s Health plans to provide approximately 2,500 telehealth appointments — in which patients and their families can use devices such as cellphones and tablets to see Stanford Medicine physicians remotely — in 2019, making a more than twofold increase in use of the service.  (The Stanford Daily)

While San Francisco’s list of 10 largest employers is dominated by tech, across the bay in Oakland it’s all about health. The city’s top three employers are Kaiser Permanente (No. 1), Sutter Health (No. 2), and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital (No. 3). Together, these health care giants employ about 19,000 people in Oakland and more than 85,000 people in the Bay Area (Kaiser and Sutter rank third and fourth, respectively, on San Francisco’s 10 largest employers).  (San Francisco Business Times)

As the Paradise, California community slowly begins to heal following the apocalyptic devastation of the Camp wildfire last month, Adventist Health celebrated the reopening of its Feather River Health Center clinic with a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday. The town’s mayor, chamber of commerce and numerous community members were in attendance. The reopening came after road access to that portion of Skyway, a major conduit in and out of the town, was reopened by officials.  (Healthcare Finance)

In support of a partnership that has spanned 10 years, John Muir Health is making a holiday contribution of $35,000 to the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano. The funding will support the Food Bank’s Community Produce Program, which distributes fresh fruits and vegetables to more than 50 sites throughout Contra Costa and Solano counties twice a month.  (John Muir Health)