North Bay Business Journal

From Marin to Mendocino, current hospital projects represent at least $550 million worth of combined construction spending.

And it’s a number that will double if and when one of the largest projects — the $500 million rebuild of Marin General Hospital — gets off the ground.

Carine Arend, CPA, has been promoted to senior manager in the tax department of the Santa Rosa public accounting firm of Dal Poggetto & Company, LLP. … Also in the tax department of the same firm, Ryan Fitzsimons, CPA, has been promoted to manager. …

Reed Upson joined Warren Capital Corp. in Novato as finance and operations analyst. …

Surani Kwan was presented the 2013 Nurse Practitioner of Distinction award by the California Association for Nurse Practitioners. …

Autodesk Inc. of San Rafael appointed to its board of directors Tom Georgens of NetApp. …

Penfolds, managed by Treasury Wine Estates, named Napa-based DLynn Proctor its winemaking ambassador for the Americas. …

Kaiser Permanente has earned accreditation for its Santa Rosa Medical Center Family Residency Program, which was developed to attract and retain more physicians to the region in lieu of national shortages.

Throughout the debate and the recent implementation of health care reform, health experts and politicians alike have touted the shift away from the fee-for-service model to more coordinated care, leading to better outcomes and lowered spending.

Beginning this year, however, the financial health of hospitals will likely depend on just how well care is coordinated, as a relatively little-known yet critically important piece of the Affordable Care Act is enacted: the “Hospital Value-based Purchasing Program,” overseen by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.

Value-Based Purchasing is a Medicare program started in January that seeks to hold hospitals accountable for the care they provide.

Last year, Medicare rolled out penalties for hospitals that have too many returning patients within a month.

This chart shows the effect of the two programs combined.

In the next 12 to 18 months, the North Bay will see significant hospital and health care construction, with at least half a dozen major projects entering key phases or reaching completion.

SANTA ROSA — Sutter Health will expand its Advanced Illness Management initiative into Sonoma County, marking the fist major expansion of the program that focuses heavily on late-stage chronic illness and best treatment options for such conditions.

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.

Mike Purvis is the chief administrative officer for Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa, an affiliate of Sutter Health. Mr. Purvis has been with Sutter in Santa Rosa for the past three years, helping to lead health systems’ efforts in rebuilding and relocating its current Chanate Road hospital to a $284 million facility on Mark West Springs Road just north of Santa Rosa.

Healthgrades, the leading provider of information to help consumers make informed decisions when selecting physicians or hospitals, recognized Healdsburg District Hospital and Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa in its American Hospital Quality Outcomes 2013: Healthgrades Report to the Nation. …

Sonoma County residents and others who use local hospitals honored Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital as a 2012-2013 Consumer Choice Award winner for the Santa Rosa-area market, according to results of consumer surveys announced by National Research Corporation in the journal Modern Healthcare. …

Nearly 60 employees of the General Dynamics development and production center in Healdsburg were recognized for their excellence and leadership in technology-related fields as part of the 17th annual Women of Color in Technology awards program. …

SANTA ROSA — Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa announced that it has secured two anchor tenants for its forthcoming 80,000 square foot medical office building, which will be adjacent to the new $284 million hospital being constructed in northern Santa Rosa.

Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa and Kaiser Foundation hospitals in Santa Rosa and Vacaville were the three North Bay facilities on latest list of the nation’s top performers in “key quality measures” by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of U.S. health care organizations. …

Northern California Center for Well-Being on Sept. 14 held its annual “Celebration of Dreams,” honoring local health care professionals and individuals for improving overall health in the region: Amy’s Kitchen, Gary Pace of West County Health Centers, Zuli Baron of St. Joseph Health, Andrea Michelsen of Kaiser Permanente and Hannah Early, a student at Analy High School. …

Two Petaluma orthodontists recently purchased a 7,500 square-foot former Wells Fargo branch at 301 Washington St. and plan to remodel it for their private practice. …

North Bay Cancer Alliance, a Santa Rosa-based nonprofit, launched a new website, a new brand and renewed focus on expanded community programs. …

SANTA ROSA — The Family Medicine Residency Program at Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa announced its incoming class of 2015, selecting 12 medical school graduates out of 618 applicants — about half of the nation’s 1,200 plus applicants in family medicine.

In an effort to gauge how the region’s major employers are dealing with continued economic uncertainty, the North Bay Business Journal reached out to major companies with a series of employment-related questions, in addition to identifying the top human resources professional at each organization.

The results, from tech to health care, to hospitality to manufacturing, show that many of the major players are faring better, some even thriving, but challenges nonetheless remain.

SANTA ROSA — In an effort to address a long anticipated shortage of primary care physicians in Sonoma County, Kaiser Permanente’s Santa Rosa Medical Center will launch a family medicine residency program aimed at both recruiting and retaining doctors to the region.

SANTA ROSA — Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa today announced it selected Irvine-based Hammes Company to develop an on-campus, state-of-the-art medical office building as part of the new $284 million hospital just north of Santa Rosa.

Sutter Health, the parent company of Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa, today said today its 2011 net income dropped to $634 million from $878 million the previous year across the 24-hospital system, a decline of nearly 28 percent.

Construction continues to progress at the site of Sutter Health’s forthcoming $284 million new hospital, next to the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts in Northern Santa Rosa, that will replace its aging, seismically unfit Chanate facility. … Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa announced the appointment of Vincent Morgese as the hospital’s executive vice president, chief operating officer and chief medical officer. … Clinic Ole in Napa recently celebrated an open house for its newest location on Old Sonoma Road at the county Health and Human Services campus. … The Marin County Board of Supervisors approved a contract of more than $500,000 to Homeward Bound, which will provide housing and case management services for mentally ill homeless people in Marin. … Tim McDonald of Cloverdale was recently elected to the board of directors at Alexander Valley Healthcare, formerly known as Alexander Valley Regional Medical Center. Mr. McDonald previously worked as a senor executive in HR at Watson Pharmaceuticals, PriceWaterhouse, Paramount Pictures and MTV. …
St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake, formally known as Red Bud Community Hospital, received a $25,000 donation from Rotary Club of Clearlake.

SANTA ROSA — Registered nurses and Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa have reached a tentative agreement for a new collective bargaining contract for some 350 RNs represented by the California Nurses Association, the union announced today.

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. …