The Hospital Council Board of Directors met last week and discussed the significant legislative and regulatory challenges that remain for hospitals as the state budget has been passed and the legislative year heads into its final stages. In addition to reviewing the state budget, the board discussed strategy on the 2030 seismic standards, the newly created Office of Health Care Affordability, and the potential impact of health care minimum wage campaigns taking place in southern California.
Workforce issues were also top of mind for the board, with emphasis on both short- and long-term strategies to meet the deepening shortage of health care professionals in California that affects every aspect of care. Enhancing the safety of our hospital workforce remains, as always, a high priority.
The board anticipates that fundamental issues would remain to be addressed after the release of the state’s ambulance patient offload time report in September. We look forward to engaging with the state’s Emergency Medical Services Authority at that time and will continue to discuss the issue at section meetings.
As we continue to look toward the future of health care, I’m excited that we are working with our partners at the Hospital Quality Institute (HQI) as we coordinate our November in-person board meeting with the HQI’s Patient Safety Leadership Summit. This is a free, invitation-only, half-day event being held in collaboration with the HQI Annual Conference. Scheduled presenters Dr. Marty Makary, Dr. Heather Farley, and Dr. Joseph Betancourt will engage in small, future-focused, patient safety-related sessions tailored specifically to hospital C-suite leaders. This is a unique opportunity to shape the direction of health care quality improvement in California, and we very much encourage your participation in both the summit and the HQI conference afternoon sessions.
The summit will be held the morning of Nov. 7 at the Vista Collina Resort at the Meritage in Napa and features a welcome reception the evening before. We hope to see you there.