North Bay Business Journal

NOVATO — The Marin Community Foundation today said it will distribute to local health clinics $2 million in new grants from the Sutter Health Access to Care Fund.

FAIRFIELD — Partnership HealthPlan of California, a nonprofit that administers Medi-Cal benefits in six counties, said recently that it is looking to fill 100 positions over the next 12 months after expanding significantly further into Northern California.

Partnership Health Plan of California, a Fairfield-based managed Medi-Cal plan, has petitioned the state for further expansion, hoping to include Lake and six other Northern California counties, in addition to the six North Coast counties already in its network. …

Woodruff Sawyer & Co. of Novato is holding an seminar to discuss health care reform for employers, with subject matter including compliance with the Affordable Care Act, the California State Exchange and private exchanges, benefit design strategies, major employer issues for 2014, and other matters. …

Kristina Keck has joined Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. in the firm’s employee benefits practice as account executive, retirement plans. …

Covered California, the state’s insurance exchange set up under health care reform, plans to provide grants totaling $43 million for community groups to help spread the world of the exchange and how it will work. …

Insurance experts have questioned whether the penalty levied on individuals and business for not obtaining health insurance as part of the Affordable Care Act would be enough of an incentive, but a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that would be. …

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. …

FAIRFIELD — Partnership HealthPlan of California will expand into Lake County, giving the nonprofit managed Medi-Cal plan a foothold in all six North Bay counties and more than 200,000 enrollees throughout Northern California.

Anheuser-Bush’s round-the-clock Fairfield brewery has cut energy usage by 30 percent since 2003. …

Investment in California- and Massachusetts-based Blu homes has doubled. …

Three years after first announcing its plan to develop a new all-electric vehicle in California, Coda Automotive’s first five-seat sedan rolled off of the final assembly line. …

Fairfield-based Partnership HealthPlan of California is expanding significantly. …

Vacaville-based Travis Credit Union has increased business-lending efforts. …

SANTA ROSA — The Annadel Medical Group has added physicians at an accelerating pace, making it arguably the fastest growing medical group in the region at a time health systems across the country seek to attract more physicians. …

FAIRFIELD — Shortly after expanding its reach into Marin and Mendocino counties, Partnership HealthPaln, a nonprofit managed Medi-Cal provider, went on an aggressive hiring spree, saying it intended to increase its 280-person work force by about 30 percent. …

GREENBRAE — As district hospitals look to evolve with the dramatically shifting health care landscape, no other district can quite keep pace with Marin General Hospital, overseen by the Marin Healthcare District for the past two years now. …

NOVATO — Grants totaling $2 million were distributed by the Marin Community Foundation to various health care agencies in Marin County as part of a$10 million, five-year grant established by Sutter Health.

Sutter Lakeside Hospital announced recently it would close two clinics in Lake County. … The Northern California Center for Well Being, which focuses on employee wellness throughout Sonoma County, recently entered into a contract with Fairfield-based Partnership Health Plan. … Dr. Bo Greaves of the Santa Rosa Community Health Centers was presented with the 2012 Family Physician of the Year award by the California Academy of Family Physicians. … The board of directors of TriVascular, Inc. appointed Christopher G. Chavez as chairman, CEO and president. … Palm Drive Hospital is expected to make a final decision within the next month on an electronic medical records system that could bring the 37-bed facility in line with its strategic partners while improving care. … The Petaluma Health Care District will host a community forum on health care reform on Thursday, May 3, from 6–8 p.m. … On Saturday, May 5, West County Health Centers will participate in the Sonoma County Human Race.

FAIRFIELD — Partnership HealthPlan of California said it is undergoing a significant expansion that includes plans to grow its 280-person workforce by as much as 30 percent through 2014, while having created over 60 jobs in 2011.

Health Care Partnership HealthPlan of California  announced two additions to its  administrative staff.  Dr. Richard Fleming has accepted the position of regional medical director for Yolo and Solano counties.  Tammy Fisher, MPH, has accepted a position as the new director of quality and performance mprovement. Dr. Fleming received his M.D. from U.C. San Francisco and [...]

FAIRFIELD — Partnership HealthPlan of California expanded its reach into Marin and Mendocino counties, giving the nonprofit managed Medi-Cal plan some 38,000 additional Medi-Cal enrollees.