Clinical Care

About Clinical Care

California’s hospitals are dedicated to providing high-quality, safe, and person-centered health care. This wouldn’t be possible without the clinical services hospitals provide, which include emergency care, surgery, X-ray/radiology, laboratory services, and behavioral health care. The care that hospitals provide is shaped by their communities’ needs.

CHA Report Finds Labor and Delivery Closures Driven by Three Factors

What’s happening: Maternal health care is in the spotlight both nationally and in California, with a focus on declining birth rates and improving equitable outcomes. A new report from CHA centers on one aspect of access to maternity services: factors driving the decline in hospital-based labor and delivery unit availability. 

What else to know: The report, Maternity Care in California: An Environmental Scan, describes various approaches in California and other states to help policymakers understand that addressing this complex issue requires flexibility and consideration of a community’s unique needs — and that any path forward must prioritize mothers’ and babies’ safety and emphasize high-quality care.  

2025 Emergency Services Forum

Join us for the 2025 Emergency Services Forum, returning to beautiful Newport Beach! This conference is dedicated to the uniqueness of hospital ED management and its intersection with emergency services and the community. We’re finalizing an exceptional lineup of speakers and engaging topics. The 2024 Emergency Services Forum sold out – this is an event you and your colleagues don’t want to miss! 

AHA Survey on 340B Rebate Model Closes Jan. 10

What’s happening: The American Hospital Association (AHA) is asking hospitals to complete a survey by Jan. 10 to help it understand how a 340B rebate model would impact 340B member hospitals. 

What else to know: Completing this 10-question survey will help AHA understand the financial, operational, and patient impacts that a rebate model — such as the one Johnson & Johnson sought to implement this year — would have on your hospital or health system.  

Liver Transplant Saves Infant’s Life

After being diagnosed with biliary atresia, infant Mia received a liver transplant from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and is now back to achieving infant milestones like playing with toys and using her big voice.

CMS Memos Clarify Policies for Providers, State Survey Agencies

What’s happening: In four new memos, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) clarifies survey policies for critical access hospitals (CAHs), long-term care facilities (LTC), and laboratories.  

What else you need to know: New and revised guidance addresses time-share and leased space arrangements in CAHs, immediate jeopardy in laboratories, and LTC policies.  

DEA, HHS Extend Telehealth Prescribing Flexibilities

What’s happening: The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) extended existing waiver flexibilities for prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine through Dec. 31, 2025. 

What else to know: This is the third extension.  

CHA Releases Resource Web Page for Nationwide IV Fluid Shortage

What’s happening: As hospitals and other health care providers nationally grapple with the shortage of IV fluids following the temporary closure of Baxter International’s manufacturing plant in Marion, N.C., CHA has compiled federal, state, and local resources to assist hospitals. 

What else to know: Hurricane Helene hit the southeast in early October, causing widespread damage, including the temporary closure of Baxter’s plant — which, pre-Hurricane, manufactured 60% of the nation’s supply of IV solutions, producing 1.5 million bags per day.