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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
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Lack of Insurance Leaves State’s Workers in Unhealthy Position

Slightly less than half , 49 percent , of all California workers receive health insurance from their employers, according to a Mission Valley-based research group.

The Center on Policy Initiatives made the announcement last week after analyzing a survey of 45,000 households statewide.

Almost 5 million California workers are dependent on publicly funded health programs or completely uninsured, according to the study.

The nonprofit reported that the hotel and restaurant industry was the least likely to provide coverage, with only 20 percent of workers getting health insurance through their employer. In contrast, 74 percent of public administration workers are provided coverage by their employer.

The list of 17 job categories and the percentages of workers who have coverage from their employers includes: education 62 percent; manufacturing 59 percent; health care and social assistance 53 percent; real estate 31 percent; and administrative support 28 percent. Figures for California regions, such as San Diego County, were not included in the report.

“The Working Uninsured: An Analysis of Worker Health Coverage Among California Industries” is available at www.onlinecpi.org.

In addition to studying results from the 2005 California Health Interview Survey, the Mission Valley center drew information from the state’s Employment Development Department.

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A Need For Speed:

A new communications system that could provide a little more room at Paradise Valley Hospital is now in place.

The National City hospital announced this month that it has adopted a Web-based picture archiving and communications system designed to eliminate the need for traditional X-ray film and speed up work flow.

Cost of the system and its potential long-term savings for Paradise Valley have not been disclosed. But Prime Healthcare Services Inc., the Victorville-based company that owns eight Southern California acute care hospitals, including Paradise, has been upfront about plans to pour a great deal of funds into the aging facility , $5 million on infrastructure alone.

“Prime Healthcare Services is investing millions of dollars in Paradise Valley Hospital to improve operational efficiencies,” said Dr. Prem Reddy, chairman of the board at Prime Healthcare.

Because the system allows radiologists to read diagnostic images digitally instead of using traditional film viewers, the images will be “instantaneously available throughout Paradise Valley Hospital and its satellite extensions,” according to Prime Healthcare, which bought the 301-bed hospital this year for $30 million.

Before the for-profit Prime Healthcare purchased Paradise, built in 1904, the hospital was run by not-for-profit Adventist Health.

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3-D, HD Approach:

While Paradise Valley finds a way to expedite X-ray results, Scripps Mercy Hospital is deploying a new surgical system that allows for an enhanced “hands-free” approach to medicine.

The San Diego hospital said this month that it has acquired the da Vinci Surgical System, the first robotic surgical system to give off a 3-D, high-definition screen image. Cost of the system was not released.

With robotic controls, surgeons using the system watch a screen to anticipate their next move in a patient’s body.

The idea is that by using carefully sized robotics, surgeons can have better dexterity, precision and control throughout the operation than they would with their hands inside a patient’s body, according to Scripps Mercy, part of the nonprofit Scripps Health system.

Scripps Health operates four acute care hospitals locally.


Send health care news to Jessica Long at

jlong@sdbj.com

.

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