North Bay Business Journal

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. …

Now that Western Health Advantage formally announced its expansion into the North Bay, existing care providers said the arrival of a new health plan is an important step in providing choice for employers and consumers and will help those involved move toward a more integrated model of care.

It also caps off years of planning among the region’s hospitals and independent physicians, who collectively sought collaborations amid an increasingly competitive, consolidating health care landscape spurred by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Western Health Advantage formally announced its plan to expand into the North Bay, adding Marin, Sonoma and Napa counties to its roster with hopes of offering a commercial health plan for employers and individuals by Jan. 1.

The Sacramento-based HMO in June only listed Sonoma and Marin counties for expansion, but it later included Napa County.

NOVATO — The Marin-Sonoma IPA today announced its name is now Meritage Medical Network, citing the need to identify itself beyond specific geographic areas as it charts future growth while signaling a first step to becoming an accountable care organization, or ACO

Western Health Advantage has filed for an expansion of its business into Marin and Sonoma counties, where it hopes to partner with the Marin-Sonoma IPA and much of the region’s hospitals in offering a new health plan for employers and individuals

With health care reform taking shape over the next few months– and with it transformational changes in the way care is delivered and how providers are paid – mid-sized independent physician groups and smaller practices are increasingly being confronted with a decision: merge, partner or have the practice acquired in an effort to survive the rapidly shifting landscape.

With the Supreme Court ruling Thursday to uphold major tenets of the Affordable Care Act, some clarity is finally emerging for employers and providers, but the political battle over health care reform will likely continue.

Local health care providers and insurance experts said there is now much-needed clarity, at least for now, as employers and municipalities across the state attempt to adapt to ever-evolving regulations. Several providers praised the ruling.

Do you agree with the U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010? Share your thoughts.

NOVATO — Responding to continuous growth over the last two years, the Marin-Sonoma IPA is moving into a larger space at Hamilton Landing in Novato, from about 12,000 square feet to more than 20,000 square feet.

The national and local economy was on everyone’s mind in 2011. But as the Business Journal editorial staff set out to develop its Top Ten Stories of the Year, it quickly became clear that the North Bay was blessed with multiple economy-boosting projects and new commitments job creation.

SANTA ROSA — After nearly 10 years of regulatory maneuvering and an arduous approval process that included legal challenges, construction on Sutter Health’s new $284 million Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa is well under way. …

PETALUMA — Enphase Energy, the fastest-growing technology company in the North Bay, announced it had filed for an IPO and signed a 10-year lease on a 96,000 square foot space in north Petaluma. …

SANTA ROSA — Agilent Technologies pulled out of the recession with a record year and a thriving Electronic Measurement Group based in Santa Rosa. …

NOVATO — For the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, 2011 was a year of all-round expansion. …

Three of the North Bay’s most prominent colleges — Santa Rosa Junior College, Dominican University and Napa Valley College — have recently selected new presidents. …

The Napa Valley Destination Council last year received a significant boost when the county board of supervisors officially approved a tourism improvement district that affixed a 2 percent assessment on hotels and lodging, resulting in a vastly increased marketing budget from $437,000 a year to nearly $4.5 million. …

When Marin General Hospital, the Prima Medical Group and the then-named Marin IPA announced the formation of a physician foundation over a year ago, officials said at the time they would look north for further expansion. …

SANTA ROSA — A five-year job creation effort in Sonoma County will be transitioning to its “execution phase” in 2012, said Trip Snelson, campaign executive for Building Economic Success Together. …

HOPLAND — Brown-Forman Corp. in March announced it would sell Hopland-based Fetzer Vineyards to Santiago-based Viña Concha y Toro S.A. (NYSE: VCO) for $238 million after reviewing options for Mendocino County-based wine operations since the previous December. The sale closed in April. …

PETALUMA — The significant reset in Sonoma County commercial property values that started for distressed Petaluma office buildings in early 2010 is expected to continue to help spur business activity through the end of 2011 and beyond. …

The Palm Drive Healthcare District’s recent vote to begin exclusive negotiations for affiliating with Marin General Hospital has the potential to help the long-struggling Sebastopol hospital stabilize, while creating an expansive network of alliances between numerous district hospitals across the North Bay that might otherwise struggle for survival.

SONOMA COUNTY — The Marin-Sonoma IPA has joined with Health Net to provide Medicare Advantage plans for Sonoma County seniors in the wake of a coverage agreement between Sutter Health and UnitedHealthcare.

SONOMA COUNTY — Marin-Sonoma IPA has joined with Health Net to provide Medicare plans for Sonoma County seniors in the wake of a coverage agreement between Sutter Health and UnitedHealthcare.

As the health care landscape across the North Bay — indeed, across much of the country — undergoes rapid transformation, many organizations are already growing in anticipation of the changes that lay ahead. … The Marin-Sonoma IPA changed its name as a reflection of its growth further into Sonoma County — when earlier this spring it grew from some 300 physicians to nearly 500 in a matter of months. … Another fast-growing side of health care is the vast world of biotech. And North Bay companies are no exception from this growing trend: Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, BioMarin Pharmaceutical. … The Doctors Company, a Napa-based physician and medical liability insurer, increased its nationwide membership by 27 percent this year when it acquired FPIC Insurance Group, a major publicly-traded medical insurance group based in Florida.

SONOMA COUNTY — Members of a regional effort to create a strong network of physicians across the North Bay are in early talks with a Sacramento-based health maintenance organization about forming an insurance product around the nearly 500-member physician network, with the possible goal of offering a commercial health plan to employers.

PETALUMA — Annadel Medical Group, which contracts exclusively with St. Joseph Health System-operated facilities throughout Sonoma County, announced the addition of two new primary care physicians in Petaluma.

NORTH BAY — The Marin-Sonoma IPA today said physicians from the Annadel Medical Group and several associated with Palm Drive and Healdsburg District hospitals have officially joined the physician network, boosting the ranks of the Novato-based independent practice association to more than 400 doctors in Marin and Sonoma counties.

NORTH BAY — The expansion of a Marin physician’s network further into Sonoma County is a key step in assisting independent health care districts integrate services, and the alignment it will create at district hospitals is “critical to the long-term success,” according to Sonoma County’s top public health official.

NORTH BAY — A leading Marin County doctors’ association is heading an effort to create a potentially powerful network of hundreds of North Bay physicians that, if successful, would significantly alter the region’s health care landscape.

SONOMA — The Sonoma Valley Healthcare District Board of Directors voted to join the Prima Medical Foundation, a nonprofit that provides management services to physicians. The foundation was formed earlier this year by Marin General Hospital, Marin IPA and Prima Medical Group to help attract physicians and maintain hospital competitiveness.

Three of Sonoma County’s newest tech companies — Raydiance, Enphase Energy and Métier — have widely diverse products: ultra-short pulse lasers, microinverters for the solar industry and project portfolio management software.

BioMarin Pharmaceuticals, the Buck Institute for Age Research and TriVascular are expanding research, products and staff.

Nearly every sector within health care in the North Bay is undergoing rapid expansion, reflecting a nationwide trend that shows little sign of a respite. This is just a sampling of the quickly growing health care companies and providers across the North Bay, from corporate giants to rural clinics.

La Tavola, ProSight, Central Payment add space, markets; Frank-Lin, Kiewit to move to the North Bay: From linen rentals to financial transaction processing to insurance underwriting to alcoholic beverage production to heavy construction, several companies in various industries have relocated or expanded in the North Bay this year.