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Employers in the Bay Area are finding it difficult to get good and qualified people specialized skills in growing industries like biotechnology and accounting for employment. The shortage has aroused for several number of professionals like accountants, project managers, bankers, pharmacists, chief finance officers, human-resource managers, and others.

PHOTODISC: ONE SHOT AT A GOOD IMPRESSION SEATTLE - By 2000 Mark Torrance pictures half of PhotoDisc Inc.'s revenues coming from its Internet site. That's significant when you take into [...]

Visionaries Tell Their Stories of How They Are Making Money On The Internet. PHOTODISC: ONE SHOT AT A GOOD IMPRESSION SEATTLE - By 2000 Mark Torrance pictures half of PhotoDisc [...]

Visionaries Tell Their Stories of How They Are Making Money On The Internet. PHOTODISC: ONE SHOT AT A GOOD IMPRESSION SEATTLE - By 2000 Mark Torrance pictures half of PhotoDisc [...]

Visionaries Tell Their Stories of How They Are Making Money On The Internet. PHOTODISC: ONE SHOT AT A GOOD IMPRESSION SEATTLE - By 2000 Mark Torrance pictures half of PhotoDisc [...]

PHOTODISC: ONE SHOT AT A GOOD IMPRESSION SEATTLE - By 2000 Mark Torrance pictures half of PhotoDisc Inc.'s revenues coming from its Internet site. That's significant when you take into [...]

'The small, independent community hospital can't survive on its own' The brilliant red, blue and yellow signs dotting light poles and sign posts throughout Castro Valley make a simple plea: [...]

'We are bracing for failures, and they will be profound' Kaiser Permanente's new Fremont hospital rises from the middle of its sprawling 25-acre medical campus, a gleaming beige-and-maroon emblem of [...]

Bay Area biotech giants have a flood of drugs surging toward the end of the product pipeline - a far cry from not-so-distant days when new drugs flowed from the [...]

Blue Shield of California has run out of excuses. It's been nearly three years since CEO Wayne Moon came on board to revitalize the San Francisco insurance giant and shed [...]

The so-called 'health-care organizations' created by the state's 1993 workers' compensation reform package to pave the way to 24-hour medical care have become a roadblock instead, say critics of the [...]

Bay Area doctors battling to gain vital links to managed-care networks have been offered a unique prescription by two Arizona-based companies: Send us your money, preferably by credit card, and [...]

California's homeowners' insurance crunch is starting to squeeze home buyers and sellers, and no end is in sight. As the availability of coverage shrinks drastically, insurance companies and brokers are [...]

A wall goes up for new docs For the first time in its 50-year history, newly hired doctors at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California are no longer eligible to become [...]

With California glutted, less developed states are being targeted With the highly competitive California market reaching its saturation point, HMOs are looking beyond state borders for merger-and-acquisition candidates to help [...]

For a city whose psyche and image are already battered, the potential departure of the Oakland Athletics and the Golden State Warriors sports franchises is a nightmare few business and [...]

Recent hospital bankruptcies have called into question the long-term solvency of the Cal-Mortgage Loan Guarantee program, a $2.03 billion state insurance program guaranteeing tax-exempt bonds for 214 public and nonprofit [...]

Mt. Diablo Medical Center in Concord in considering a new round of layoffs, a 5 percent across-the-board pay cut and other changes to reverse a precipitous financial decline. The not-for-profit [...]

Last month's Northridge earthquake has rattled the global insurance industry enough to send Bay Area commercial earthquake premiums and deductibles soaring, while availability plummets. Availability -- especially of new coverage [...]

Hospitals, HMOs and doctors are breathing a little easier now that the state has unveiled its ambitious plan to move as many as 3.3 million Medi-Cal recipients into managed care. [...]

OAKLAND -- Imagine the Bay Area health care scene as a football scrimmage, with Kaiser Permanente a burly 900-pound gorilla alone on offense. Opposite, a rag-tag band of Lilliputians huddles [...]

Retail reflects neighborhood change Clement Street, particularly the multicultural stretch from Arguello to Park Presidio, is a neighborhood shopping district in transition. To critics, Clement Street looks a lot like [...]

About 2,300 health care jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area were cut or are planned to be cut in a trend that is expected to continue up to 2011. Health care industry observers believe that some of the cuts can be attributed to the health care reform which is driving firms to rationalize its operations in order to compete under the new rules and regulations.

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center has lost CEO Warren Kirk, and vice presidents Dr. John Gentile and Vic Meinke when the three abruptly resigned for unrelated health reasons. Sutter Health, parent company of Alta Bates Summit, has confirmed that the three executives left the two-campus hospital within a week of each other. Other insights on Warren Kirk are also given.

San Francisco, California has a proposed bill that would give the city more authority to regulate hospital constructions. The bill is supported by the California Nurses Association and San Francisco supervisor David Campos but several hospitals are surprised at the speed at which the proposal moves through the city government. Insights on the reactions of the hospitals are also given.

Mills-Peninsula Health Services is planning to sell several of its business units, which includes skilled nursing and dialysis units, in order to address a budget deficit and to prepare for challenging economic conditions in the future. Mills-Peninsula revealed that the planned sale will affect 219 of its employees, who were warned in an internal memorandum about the plan.

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) plans to issue short-term commercial paper to fill research fund shortfall from philanthropists. UCSF is still short by $31 million for its stem cell research building, and is also raising funds for its $225-million women's, children's and cancer hospital complex, as well as its $70-million neuro-science research building.

San Francisco is considering a new law that will give the San Francisco Board of Supervisors regulatory powers over hospital expansion projects. The new regulation was proposed by David Campos and will be reviewed by the Planning Commission on October 28, 2010. The implications of the planned regulation to hospitals is discussed.

A California legislation requiring hospitals to meet seismic safety requirements is seen to impede construction of California Pacific Medical Center and Stanford Hospital's renovation projects. The hospitals have earlier expressed support for the bill. Comments from lawmakers are also given.

Kaiser Permanente president for the Northern California region, Gregory Adams, shares his plans to adopt some cost cutting measures. Adams explained that his goal is to moderate the cost trends from going forward and to improve Kaiser's rate position in the market. Adams also shared details of other big items in his agenda.

University of California, San Francisco has landed $100 million in pledged from an anonymous donor for its proposed Mission Bay hospital. Total pledges for the hospital has so far amounted to $325 million, short by $75 million from the $400 million fundraising goal. The $100 million pledge is for the Children's Hospital section.

The U.S. health care reform package signed by Pres. Barack Obama features technical details as contributed by CaliforniaEs Bay Area health leaders, including the congressional delegation, Kaiser Permanente's George Halvorson and Blue Shield of California's Bruce Bodaken. Details on key terms and concepts provided by Bay Area supporters are discussed.

Sutter Health has announced a plan to spend $150 million over five years to boost its physician network in San Francisco and the North Bay in California. The commitment would bring Sutter closer to its longtime goal of creating a 'Kaiser Lite' system in California. Insights on the investment's impact on Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation's operation are also given.

Rising hospital costs, aging population, chronic diseases, and employee wages are among the factors health insurers in California have considered in increasing policy rates. Health insurers expect that rates could continue to increase during the recession. How the increasing rates have affected the manner businesses cover the health care insurance of employees is discussed.

California's Health Information Technology has warned San Francisco-based California Regional Health Information Organization (CalRHIO) and California e-Health Collaborative (CAeHC) to come up with a joint proposal for stimulus funding. Nearly $40 million is at stake in the short term but billions of dollars are earmarked for the designated entity. Insights on the conflict between CalRHIO and CAeHC are also given.

A merger between the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) and the Mills-Peninsula Medical Group would create a medical group comprising an estimated 1,300 physicians. Major parts of California's Peninsula area, Silicon Valley, East Bay, and Santa Cruz area would be interconnected by the group. Mills-Peninsula's physician shareholders will vote on the merger on December 10, 2009.

Major hospitals in San Francisco, California are leading the way in adopting the usage of business information modeling (BIM) software in designing and constructing its buildings. The BIM approach leads to savings on manufacturing and transportation expenses. The savings can be realized since subcontractors are allowed to perform offsite pre-fabrication of project sections.

Warren Hellman, a financier, teams up with University of California Berkeley's gradate school of journalism, KQED Public Media, and possibly, New York Times Co. to form a nonprofit news organization. The new organization will fill gaps in coverage of local news following the fall of daily papers including the 'San Francisco Chronicle.' The Bay Area News Project, which will operate primarily online, receives $5 million in funding.

Health officials in San Francisco Bay Area, California are preparing firms and hospitals about the possible swine flu surges in fall 2009 and informing them of the importance of simple hygienic practices, such as hand-washing. Details on contingency plans of hospitals and businesses are presented.

Bert Lubin was named as president and CEO of Children's Hospital Research Center Oakland, California on August 5, 2009. He took over the institution which is plagued with issues concerning financial losses and relocation, among others. Lubin, who is confident in successfully managing Children's Hospital, has laid out relevant plans.

The transfer of $88 million from Marin General Hospital to Sutter Health is being investigated. The move was an unusual contrast to the situation of other San Francisco Bay Area hospitals affiliated with Sutter. Marin General's board of directors are being asked by Assemblyman Jared Huffman to explain the transfer.

A $50M federal stimulus fund will be allotted to California's IT sector once California Regional Health Information Organization and rival California e-Health Collaborative agree on a plan. The first installment which totals to $30M will be only be disbursed if the state comes up with the plan on how and where to distribute the money.

Economic slowdown and the expensive bond markets have prompted Sutter Health to put on hold its hospital construction and information technology projects. Projects put on hold include the California Pacific Medical Center's Cathedral Hill Campus, Alta Bates Summit's new inpatient building and installation of electronic medical records system.

Business leaders in San Francisco, California, including investment banker Warren Hellman, are in discussions on whether to turn 'San Francisco Chronicle' (Chron) into a nonprofit due to financial troubles that the daily newspaper is facing. Other details about the business leaders' plans to save Chron are discussed.

Philanthropist Charles Feeney has donated $125 million to the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center, one of the largest donations ever received by the center. The gift will be used to help fund the center's proposed $1.7 billion Mission Bay cancer hospital. The obstacles facing the project are also discussed.

Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente have directed regional leaders to initiate cost-cutting steps to help address $794 million investment-related losses in 2008. Cost-cutting initiatives are expected to include freezing the pay of top 500 executives and keeping staff at 2008 levels. Kaiser also revealed that its portfolio lost 15% of its overall value in 2008.

The economic crisis has adversely affected pension funds in San Francisco, California. The pension funding losses has also caused employee reduction in some firms. Statistics on pension funding are also provided.