The 33rd Annual Crystal Ball to benefit USC Arcadia Hospital was held on November 5 at the Pasadena Convention Center and raised $694,000 for the USC Arcadia Hospital Foundation. Paul Rusnak of Rusnak Auto Group was honored.
According to Chester Zahn, gastroenterologist at Methodist Hospital, Chinese Americans have higher rates of colon cancer than other Americans. The American Cancer Society is teaming with Asian American advertising agencies to educate Chinese Americans about colon cancer screenings.
Arcadia City Council has approved a major expansion of Methodist Hospital of Southern California. The project will cost $130 million and is slated to finish by early 2009.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital and Santa Anita YMCA offer a joint medically-based fitness program called Active Health. It is designed for people with health problems or who want a monitored workout routine and diet plan.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital changing names today as it partners with USC Health System. It is now USC Arcadia Hospital. The affiliation with USC will augment existing services at the medical center, tapping into the USC Keck's resources as an academic institution and high-level research and expertise. Dan Ausman is the president and CEO of USC Arcadia Hospital. The hospital has 348 beds. Ausman said the hospital has a 120 year history, dating back to its origins of 5 beds inside a two-story house on Hewitt Street in downtown Los Angeles. From there it moved to Hope Street (Los Angeles) and then to Arcadia, in 1957. The hospital delivers nearly 2000 babies each year and treats 50,000+ in its emergency department.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital employs a staff of seven full-time interpreters fluent in medical terminology and the most common Chinese dialects to help with patients who don't speak English. Dr. Andrew Lee, internist, occasionally talks to patients in the Spanish he learned as a resident, but the hospital will be having a team of Spanish interpreters next month.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital has been accused of dumping homeless patients on Los Angeles' Skid Row. A hospital representative said it is compliant with the anti-dumping law, Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, and has done nothing illegal. The two alleged dumping incidents involve homeless patients Hector Salazar and Therese LaBossiere.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital has been named one of the top 100 U.S. cardiovascular hospitals by Solucient, a company that provides health-care business information to hospitals.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital has been trying to reduce the number of heart failure patients that are readmitted to the hospital through education, teamwork, and follow-up. The Heart Failure Program was established in 2003 for this purpose. Since 2003, more than 600 patients have participated in the program with encouraging results.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital has filed 2 lawsuits against Anthem Blue Cross, one in Superior Court and one in federal court, alleging the insurer underpays for emergency room visits by Blue Cross members.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital has received permission from the city to sell up to $330 million in tax-exempt bonds to fund its expansion project. The money would not be borrowed from voters, as the bonds would be issued through the California Statewide Communities Development Authority.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital joins other hospitals across the San Gabriel Valley when it implements a new tobacco free policy on its entire campus starting January 1.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital opened a new four-level parking structure this week, completing the first phase of its expansion. The second phase will include a 152,000 square feet, five-story patient tower, with a bridge connecting the top three floors to the existing Berger Patient Tower. The new North Tower, to be completed in 2010, will house a new emergency department, medical and surgical inpatient beds, two intensive care units, and a pharmacy.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital received a $4 million gift from philanthropists Tom and Bea Hollfelder, the largest outright gift made by individual donors in the hospital's 106 year history. In recognition of their donation, the first floor of the new hospital tower, scheduled to open in 2012, will be named the Hollfelder Emergency Care Center.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital staff have a drill to practice responding to a dirty bomb detonation, imagining a scenario in which terrorists explode a bomb with radioactive material at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale.
Arcadia Methodist Hospital unveiled Chinese and English print ads to encourage people of Chinese descent to get screened for colon cancer. The year-long campaign featuring Chinese colon cancer survivors was developed by the American Cancer Society and four Asian-American owned advertising agencies.