SAN FRANCISCO—San Franciscans participating in the city's unique health access program report high levels of satisfaction, though a quarter said they delayed or skipped care because of cost or coverage issues, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report. Healthy San Francisco, launched in 2006, offers uninsured adult residents access to care on a sliding scale through participating city clinics and hospitals. As of August, more than 45,000 people were enrolled. The program is funded by city dollars, premiums and employer contributions. Some 94% of enrollees said they are somewhat satisfied with the program, and 92% would recommend it to a friend. However, 26% said they have delayed or skipped care or medicine because of cost or a lack of insurance. “Healthy San Francisco does not insure the uninsured, but it does represent a unique model of knitting together a group of clinics and some hospitals with a financing mechanism to provide access to care and that's a major achievement for any city,” said Drew Altman, president and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
HONOLULU—Shriners Hospitals for Children in Honolulu has broken ground on the second phase of a $73 million capital improvement project. The new hospital will be about 150,000 square feet, 40% larger than the current facility, and will reduce inpatient beds from 40 beds to 24 while expanding outpatient services. The just-completed medical wing has two operating rooms, the 24 inpatient beds and 13 exam rooms. The next construction phase will add administrative services and on-site housing for patients' families, and is expected to be completed in June 2010. Shriners Honolulu provides orthopedic care free of charge to children in Hawaii and across the Pacific region.
LOS ANGELES—The now shuttered inpatient facility at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, or King-Harbor, might be getting new life. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved a plan to ask the University of California Board of Regents to partner with the county to reopen King-Harbor's inpatient facilities by the end of 2012. The vote authorizes county officials to present the proposal to reopen King-Harbor at the UC Board of Regents' September meeting. Under the proposal, the county would provide funding for the 120-bed project, including a minimum of $358.7 million for construction, while the University of California would provide physician services and develop a medical training program. King-Harbor, formerly known as King-Drew Medical Center, closed inpatient services in August 2007 after the CMS pulled its funding contract because of serious and persistent patient-care problems.
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Kaiser Permanente opened a trauma center at its South Sacramento Medical Center on Aug. 1. The Level II trauma center is the fourth trauma facility in the Sacramento area. Kaiser Permanente won the contract to build the center in 2007 after a competitive bidding process. Severe pediatric injuries and burn cases will continue to be directed to the region's only Level I trauma center, at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. The new Kaiser South Sacramento trauma center is part of the hospital's $300 million expansion, which is expected to be completed next year. Other improvements include a new 136-bed hospital tower, an expanded ER to 41 beds, more operating room capacity and a helipad.
