SACRAMENTO (February 5, 2026) — California Hospital Association President & CEO Carmela Coyle today announced her plans to retire in early 2027, after a 44-year career in health care policy and advocacy.
In a proposal that is as baffling as it is irresponsible, new regulations from the California Department of Public Health will prevent Californians from getting the mental health care they desperately need.
SACRAMENTO (January 13, 2026) — Julie Sprengel, President of Dignity Health California, a member of CommonSpirit Health, has been elected 2026 chair of the California Hospital Association’s Board of Trustees. Sprengel, who joined Dignity Health in 2016 as the then-Southern California Service Area SVP, now leads one of California’s largest not-for-profit health systems. In her role as head of the largest region within CommonSpirit, Sprengel oversees 45,000 employees and 15,000 physicians working at 29 acute care hospitals and more than 250 ambulatory care sites across the state.
SACRAMENTO (Oct. 15, 2025) — California’s Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) has violated state law by setting caps on the resources hospitals have available to care for patients, as it ignored a clear legislative mandate to safeguard access to care, protect health care workers, improve health equity, and preserve or enhance the quality of care.
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
SACRAMENTO (May 14, 2025) — “Just two days after a congressional committee released a federal budget proposal that would hollow out Californians’ health care services through drastic Medicaid cuts, the state’s May budget revision proposal piles on. The state would fill its spending gap by taking $1.6 billion from resources that voters directed to Medi-Cal providers and protecting access to care,” said Carmela Coyle, President & CEO of the California Hospital Association.
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
SACRAMENTO (May 12, 2025) — “The legislation proposed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee to enact massive Medicaid cuts is a devastating blow that will be felt by all who need hospital care,” said Carmela Coyle, President & CEO of the California Hospital Association. “Cuts of this magnitude cannot be absorbed. Hospitals will have no other choice but to reduce patient care services or, in the worst cases, close entirely. That means care is lost for everyone — children, seniors, privately insured people — no matter what type of health insurance coverage you have.”
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
SACRAMENTO (April 22, 2025) — “Today’s decision by the Office of Health Care Affordability (OHCA) to impose deep cuts on seven hospitals will create alarming consequences for patient care,” said Carmela Coyle, President & CEO of the California Hospital Association. “These cuts are coming on top of below-inflation spending caps for all hospitals that OHCA has already put in place. Make no mistake — the hospital care Californians receive is now being decided by a handful of unelected people who are cutting billions of dollars from your health care.”
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
SACRAMENTO (March 26, 2025) — “The Office of Health Care Affordability’s (OHCA’s) efforts to impose below-cost spending caps on hospitals —and call out 11 specific hospitals for even deeper cuts— is premature and without solid basis,” said Carmela Coyle, President & CEO of the California Hospital Association. “The decisions made by the OHCA Board will cap how much can be spent on health care for Californians — that means real pain for real people.”
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.
SACRAMENTO (April 23, 2024) — Anthem Blue Cross, one of California’s largest health insurance companies, consistently leaves thousands of its patients stranded in hospital beds long after they have been medically cleared for discharge, a violation of California law. These victims of discharge delays are forced to stay in hospitals longer, are deprived of timely post-hospital health care services, and cause backlogs for other patients who have to wait longer for hospital beds.