North Bay Business Journal

Unemployment rates across the North Coast continued to fall, with every county improving its jobless rate over both the last month and over the year, according to figures released by the Economic Development Department.

NOVATO — Raptor Pharmaceutical Corp. (Nasdaq: RPTP), after steadily growing its pipeline over the past 12 months, will relocate its corporate headquarters to a nearly 31,000 square-foot space at 7 Hamilton Landing, a space formally occupied by Walt Disney Corp.’s ImageMovers Digital animation studio.

The draconian changes recently proposed by a coalition of conservation organizations would help destroy the very foundation that makes the Marin weknow and love possible today and sustainable tomorrow. Among other things, the coalition seeks a series of drastic restrictions on our economic vitality, commerce, transportation, development, zoning, and property rights. The result would be [...]

SAN RAFAEL — BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (Nasdaq:BMRN) recently reported a net loss of $39.8 million, or 31 cents per share, for the first quarter ended March 31, compared to a net loss of $24 million in the same period last year.

In its first month since getting state approval for expansion last fall, Sacramento-based HMO Western Health Advantage said it has enrolled some 750 persons into new employer health plans across Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties.

[Updated Wednesday, Jan. 16, 3:30 p.m.] GREENBRAE — Roughly a year after being dismissed from the long-running legal dispute between Marin General Hospital and Sutter Health, former hospital board chair Robert Heller was awarded $848,202 in legal fees and costs from the suit brought forth by the Marin Healthcare District, his attorneys said Tuesday.

Marin General, meanwhile, revealed Wednesday that it was awarded roughly $11 million in legal fees and costs as a result of being declared the prevailing party over Sutter Health.

NOVATO — The Meritage Medical Network today was approved as an accountable care organization under a Medicare initiative stemming from the new health care law.

Three North Bay hospitals received “A” grades for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group, considered the industry standard for hospital surveys. Kaiser Permanente hospitals in San Rafael and Santa Rosa and St. Joseph Health-operated Petaluma Valley Hospital each received the ranking from the Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits. …

Sound Physicians, a Tacoma-based hospitalist organization, announced an agreement to provide comprehensive hospitalist services at Sonoma Valley Hospital. …

Operation Access, a nonprofit whose mission is to mobilize a network of medical volunteers, hospitals and community health centers to provide access to surgeons for low-income and uninsured people, recently held its celebration of volunteers at Lagunitas Brewery in Petaluma. …

Partnership Health Plan of California recently honored the Petaluma Health Center for achieving 100 percent of the nonprofit, managed Medi-Cal health plans’ goals. …

Sutter Health announced the appointment of Stephen Nolte as chief executive officer of Sutter’s recently announced health plan, which is currently in development in Sacramento. …

St. Helena Hospital recently raised $1.5 million at its annual foundation gala held at Silver Oak Cellars in Oakville. …

State Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, plans to introduce legislation that would expand the powers of nurse practitioners, pharmacists and other health care workers as a means to address a shortage of primary care physicians, a problem that experts have long warned will be exacerbated by health care reform. …

PETALUMA — Redwood Community Health Coalition recently took part in a pilot project testing a mobile health application that enrolls patients in public assistance programs, a potentially pivotal development for the public health sector. The accelerating convergence of mobile technology and health care will likely open new avenues of access to underserved populations, which could in turn help states with implementing key pieces of health care reform, officials said.

Firma Design Group announced Jerry Novak, P.E., has joined its team in Novato. …

Enphase Energy, Inc. hired several new executives: Ciaran Fox, vice president of quality and reliability; Martin Rogers, vice president of customer service and support; and Steve Lapointe; vice president of human resources. Vice President of Engineering Dennis Hollenbeck retired. …

Napa Valley’s Arrow&Branch Estate Vineyard named Pamela Jessup-Carter as director of sales. …

Miljenko “Mike” Grgich was among several California winemakers represented when the Smithsonian National Museum of American History opened its first major exhibition on food history. …

Narrow networks are coming to the North Bay.

Blue Shield of California will launch its SaveNet HMO in Marin and Sonoma counties in 2013, forming a narrow network around Novato-based Meritage Medical Network and Sonoma County Primary Care.

Western Health Advantage formally filed plans with the state to be a part of Covered California, the state’s online health exchange that will go live in 2014 as part of the federal health care reform bill, the Affordable Care Act. …

On the federal level, the Obama Administration last week issued a host of new rules and details on how insurers can structure benefits and premiums beginning in 2014. …

Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company announced the appointment of Travis Bethune to the position of vice president, distribution management and services leader. …

Unemployment rates for North Bay counties were largely unchanged in October from the month before, but Sonoma County continued to lead all of California in job growth, helping the entire North Bay grow by 2.5 percent from the previous October, according to state figures released this morning.

The political and legal challenges to federal health reform may finally be settled with the reelection of President Obama and the Supreme Court’s upholding of the Affordable Care Act, but, even with that seeming sense of finality, a host of challenges lay ahead for all levels of the industry.

NOVATO — The Buck Institute for Research on Aging today said it received a $5 million donation from architecture entrepreneurs M. Arthur Gensler Jr. and Drucillia Cortell Gensler of Mill Valley.

The Meritage Medical Network, formerly known as the Marin-Sonoma IPA, has officially made known its plan to earn accountable care organization, or ACO, designation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act of 2010. …

Mendocino Coast District Hospital, a 25-bed nonprofit critical access facility, is seeking bankruptcy court protection from creditors as it seeks to reorganize its debts while keeping the doors open. …

Evan Rayner, Healdsburg District Hospital chief executive officer, is stepping down from his position, according to the North Sonoma County Healthcare District, which owns and operates the 43-bed hospital. …

GREENBRAE — Marin General Hospital recently unveiled a newly built emergency department that the 235-bed hospital said will significantly improve care and patient satisfaction.

On Nov. 6, Marin County voters will be deciding whether to approve Measure A, the Marin Parks, Open Space and Farmland quarter-cent sales tax measure. On Aug. 7, after a series of public meetings, a public opinion survey, a recommendation from the County Parks and Open Space Commission and at the urging of community groups [...]

GREENBRAE — Marin General Hospital released a draft environmental impact report for a roughly $500 million rebuild project that will bring the 235-bed level III trauma center in line with state seismic measures while improving other features.

Amid an uncertain political climate in Washington, estate tax attorneys are urging clients to plan now, before a bevy of favorable rates expire at the end of this year.