Sutter Press Round-Up 3/2/05

Hospital negotiation hits a potential snag
Burlingame Daily News, Feb. 25

Health care purchasers last week called on the elected members
of the Peninsula Health Care District to include pricing &
quality protections in a contract it is negotiating with
Sutter's Mills-Peninsula Medical Center in San Mateo County.
Sutter seeks to lease the District's publicly owned hospital for
50 years.

CalPERS, Blue Shield and Blue Cross report that Sutter's prices
are as much as 80% higher than the statewide average, allowing
Sutter to earn record profits. At Mills-Peninsula Medical
Center, Sutter has siphoned nearly $100 million in profits from
the publicly owned hospital during the past 7 years, according
to state data. Given these practices, consumers asked elected
officials to insert safeguards into the lease agreement to
protect patients from price-gouging and to ensure quality
services for area residents.

* Full article:
http://www.facts-online.org/ct/tp1MGt11kq4P/BurlingDaily

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Sutter Hospitals officials move to dissolve longtime Auxiliary
Sacramento Bee, Feb. 25

Sutter announced that it will dissolve the 52-year-old volunteer
auxiliary at Sutter General and Sutter Memorial Hospitals in
Sacramento, because it does not make enough money. Many of the
auxiliary's members are older women who have invested decades of
volunteer work in the hospitals.

"In a letter to Auxiliary co-president Martha Hull, hospital
officials cite the Auxiliary's failure to earn enough money,
noting that other hospital gift shops earn between $120 and
$512 per bed per year, while theirs earns only $20 per bed per
year."

* Full article:
http://www.facts-online.org/ct/H11MGt118cf8/SacBee
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