Newsroom

The newsroom includes access to Council Connect, our twice-monthly newsletter on Hospital Council’s work. Key articles and issues of interest, along with the President’s Message, are included below.

Hospital Council Engages on Jobs and EMS Access

Who Hospitals and emergency medical services (EMS) providers in Sacramento and Placer counties  Sacramento County Emergency Medical Services Agency (SCEMSA)  What At a public meeting on Feb. 8, the Sacramento County health officer committed the county to not pursuing financial penalties on hospitals for missing ambulance patient offload time (APOT) targets. This is to ensure...

APOT Time Discussions Continue in Sacramento Area

Who Hospitals and emergency medical services (EMS) providers in Sacramento and Placer counties  Sacramento County Emergency Medical Services Agency (SCEMSA)  What At a public meeting on Feb. 8, the Sacramento County health officer committed the county to not pursuing financial penalties on hospitals for missing ambulance patient offload time (APOT) targets. This is to ensure...

Contra Costa Fire Protection District to Implement New APOT Policy in March  

Who Contra Costa Fire Protection District   American Medical Response (AMR)  What The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District and its ambulance subcontractor, AMR, plan to implement a new ambulance patient offload time (APOT) policy in March. Under the new policy, ambulance personnel who have been waiting for 60 minutes to transfer patients in need of...

Orchestrating Health Care Accessibility in Rural California

Who Adventist Health, North State region  Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma counties  Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma County member hospitals  Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, and Sonoma County community organizations and federally qualified health centers  What As member hospitals and Humboldt County progress toward the construction of a behavioral health crisis triage center (a...

Working Together to Break the Cycle

This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.

In the 1993 film Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays a man who repeats the same day over and over, hoping for a different outcome. As Groundhog Day approaches next week on Feb. 2, it may seem a little like the movie as many issues our hospitals previously faced are once again front and center this year. From seismic issues to ambulance patient offload times, regulatory oversight and overreach issues, to challenges with payers, many issues are repeating. The reality is they are resurfacing in a different environment, as hospitals confront escalating financial challenges, worsening workforce shortages, and an ever-increasing demand for health care services.

City of Berkeley Fair Workweek Ordinance Becomes Effective Jan. 12 

Who Hospitals with health care facilities located in the city of Berkeley    What The city of Berkeley’s Fair Workweek Ordinance goes into effect on Jan. 12. Passed in 2022, the ordinance requires employers in Berkeley to adhere to certain scheduling and notification requirements for shifts, provide predictability pay to all employees, and offer work...

East Bay Counties Delay Implementation of SB 43 To January 2026  

Who Board of Supervisors in East Bay counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano)    What Senate Bill (SB) 43, which was signed into law in October, expands the definition of the term “gravely disabled” for the involuntary detention, treatment, or conservatorship of individuals with behavioral health conditions to include those living with severe substance use disorders.

HQI Will Facilitate Community of Practice on Workplace Violence In 2024

The Hospital Quality Institute (HQI) will facilitate a Community of Practice on Eliminating Hospital Workplace Violence from January to December 2024. The purpose of the Community of Practice is to connect individuals working on the issue of workplace violence in hospitals through a collaborative network designed for peer-to-peer learning and exchange.   

CEO Message

Read up-to-date messages from Hospital Council's CEO