ESCONDIDO, CALIF.—Palomar Health, a public healthcare district encompassing 850 square miles of San Diego's North County region, is touting the opening of its new 288-bed hospital in Escondido. Palomar Medical Center will offer inpatient care, rehabilitation services, surgical and interventional services, and emergency and trauma services, according to a news release. The original facility, renamed Palomar Health Downtown Campus and also in Escondido, will provide women's, children's, rehabilitation, behavioral health and urgent-care services. A $496 million bond issue passed by voters in the district in 2004 helped fund the new 740,000-square-foot hospital. The total cost of the 11-story facility was $956 million. Palomar Health also operates a 107-bed hospital in Poway, Calif.
Regional News/West: Palomar Health opens 288-bed hospital in Escondido, Calif., and other news
VANCOUVER, WASH.—Prestige Care has purchased nine Eagle Healthcare skilled-nursing and rehabilitation centers in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Prestige will assume ownership and management duties Oct. 1. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Prestige, a senior-care provider, also operates centers in Alaska, Arizona, California, Montana and Nevada; the transaction gives the company 65 facilities. “This is an exciting time of growth for Prestige,” company President and CEO Harold Delamarter said in a news release. Before the deal, Eagle, based in Kirkland, Wash., owned 12 facilities—10 in Washington and one each in Idaho and Oregon—according to its website.
Proctor: “This is not a merger, there is no transfer of assets.”
ORANGE, CALIF.—St. Joseph Health, Orange, and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach, Calif., signed a letter of intent to affiliate and form a new integrated regional health system made up of their respective Southern California hospitals, the two organizations announced. A to-be-named company with its own board would be formed under the terms of the deal and would focus on coordinating healthcare in the region, said Deborah Proctor, president and CEO of St. Joseph Health, at a news conference. “This is not a merger, there is no transfer of assets,” Proctor said. Under the proposed deal, St. Joseph, which has five hospitals in the region, and two-campus Hoag would retain their individual identities and faith affiliations, Catholic and Presbyterian, respectively, according to a news release. The two organizations also plan to consider partnerships with other healthcare participants, including traditional and nontraditional healthcare providers. “We believe there are better ways to provide healthcare services in a coordinated and integrated way,” and this new company aims to do that, said Dr. Richard Afable, Hoag's president and CEO. The next step in the process is to apply for approval from the California attorney general's office; this is expected to take place in October, and more than 100 days could be required for a decision, according to the release. Earlier this month, it was announced that Mission Internal Medical Group, a 71-physician internal medicine practice based in Mission Viejo, Calif., will join St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare, a physician practice organization of large multispecialty groups and independent practices.
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