In late September, hospital leaders gathered in Lake Tahoe for the Hospital Council’s annual meeting, hosted in partnership with the Hospital Quality Institute. Before launching into a comprehensive program of patient safety and quality improvement discussions, the Hospital Council board convened. This annual event is a critical touchpoint for the board to plan for the year ahead — planning that has never been more important.
Before diving into the outlook for 2026, board members first reflected on the year to date — the challenges, successes, and opportunities that will inform our future work. Key activities this year from some of Hospital Council’s seven regions include:
- Establishing critical relationships with new San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s administration and his new team in the San Francisco Department of Health
- Engaging in a health care landscape analysis of the Central Valley with key elected officials and community partners
- Dramatic improvement in ambulance patient offload times in the Sacramento region and better relationships with emergency medical services agencies
- Continued development of new collaborative and innovative behavioral health services in the Redwood Coast and San Joaquin regions
- Deep engagement and partnership with key Medi-Cal Managed Care plans throughout the Hospital Council service area
None of these successes and opportunities would exist if not for hospitals’ relationships with each other, with local elected officials, and with community organizations.
Hospitals’ ability to connect with others in the service of their communities will take on greater urgency in 2026 and beyond. As the health care field at large begins to imagine a future impacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — which will cut $911 billion in Medicaid spending over the next decade — hospitals’ survival will depend not just on innovation, but also on their relationships.
Just as organizations learn from one another to drive change in patient safety, so too can we learn from those around us to navigate an uncertain future. Our board started that work last week. Health care in California is a marathon with no finish line, but we hope that you and your teams will join us in this race, where delivering health care to all Californians is the ultimate gold medal.