Dignity Health, UCSF Medical Center

Dignity Health and UCSF Medical Center have signed a memorandum of understanding to integrate operations at their San Francisco hospitals.

The plan would integrate operations at UCSF’s Parnassus, Mount Zion, and Mission Bay campuses with Dignity’s Saint Francis Memorial and St. Mary’s hospitals.

UCSF and Dignity officials did not unveil further details of the integration plan but said it would not involve a merger or an acquisition.

UCSF and Dignity have worked on past projects, and officials said the goal of the new integrated system would be to lower costs and boost the quality of care. 

California Pacific Medical Center

California Pacific Medical Center announced that it had dismissed 120 consultants on a $2.5 billion construction project previously expected to begin in October.

Sam Singer, a CPMC spokesperson, said the hospital dismissed architects, engineers and planners—who collectively were costing about $3 million per month—until the project's future is more certain.

To meet state seismic building requirements, CPMC has proposed rebuilding St. Luke’s Hospital in the Mission District and constructing a new 555-bed hospital on Cathedral Hill. However, ongoing negotiations between CPMC and San Francisco officials have delayed the construction project.

Source: California Healthline, August 10, 2012.