San Francisco / Marin

CENTRAL VALLEY: San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties are cutting services due to budget constraints. San Luis Obispo’s 2025-26 budget cuts crisis intervention services, and Santa Barbara County’s cuts clinic and specialty care clinic services for people with unsatisfactory immigration status. Hospitals in San Luis Obispo are already seeing additional pressure to compensate, as patients’ needs remain constant even if funding is no longer...

CENTRAL VALLEY: In mid-September, Hospital Council convened community benefit leaders from hospitals in Fresno, Madera, Tulare, and Kings counties to explore the potential enhanced collective impact of coordinating grant-making efforts around access to health care and food, with a focus on reducing food insecurity in the region. The group will meet again in late October...

CENTRAL VALLEY: Hospitals are working collaboratively with the Kern County Public Health Department to address the region’s ambulance patient offload time (APOT), which was 50:32 according to the Emergency Medical Services Authority’s (EMSA’s) latest report. To help reduce APOTs, hospitals with emergency departments are encouraged to register for EMSA’s “APOT Audit Tool” and begin conducting...

CENTRAL VALLEY: In late August, Hospital Council met with Rep. Adam Gray (D-Merced) to discuss hospitals and health care in the Central Valley, including the ongoing Central Valley Health Care Landscape Analysis. Rep. Gray expressed a desire to host follow-up meetings with state health leaders focusing specifically on the Central Valley’s health needs.

CENTRAL VALLEY: At Hospital Council's Community Benefits Meeting in early August, members from Fresno, Kings, Madera, and Tulare counties discussed ways to make real-time information available about which organizations they fund and at what amounts. The group will begin meeting every six weeks to facilitate this information sharing; Hospital Council will continue to support the...

CENTRAL VALLEY: As part of the Central Valley Health Care Landscape Analysis, Hospital Council hosted a focus group in which leaders from 18 member hospitals across seven counties attended. During the meeting, members reported an increase in survey activity from California Department of Public Health (CDPH) regional offices, resulting in a sharp rise in immediate...

CENTRAL VALLEY: River Vista Behavioral Health Hospital is now designated as a crisis stabilization unit, which means emergency medical services providers can transport patients directly to River Vista instead of an emergency department — great news for a region that averages 500 transports to alternate destinations each month.  

CENTRAL VALLEY: Fresno EMS Corps is accepting applications for a five-month training program that prepares students for careers in emergency medical services (EMS). Hospital Council supported grant funding for the program, which aims to address the area’s emergency medical technician shortage by making it easier to pursue these careers. Supports include assistance finding jobs, life...