Antelope Valley Hospital and Kentucky-based Kindred Healthcare have entered into a joint venture to build and operate a new specialty hospital in Lancaster, the organizations said.
The 125,000-square-foot, two-story hospital dedicated to behavioral health and rehabilitation will have 121 beds, with 96 for behavioral health patients and 25 for acute inpatient rehabilitation, AV Hospital said, all with private rooms.
The organizations have not yet disclosed a timeline for construction or estimated cost.
“AVH’s mental health unit has seen over 500 patients just this year. For this reason, it’s important to provide a multidisciplinary approach to this growing health problem,” Edward Mirzabegian, chief executive of Antelope Valley Hospital, said in a statement. “This unique facility will also allow AVH to expand its rehabilitation services to ensure patient safety and enhance patients’ functional level prior to discharge from the hospital.”
The number of available intensive care unit beds has plummeted in Los Angeles County from the continuing influx of hospitalized COIVD-19 patients, with only 92 ICU beds available Thursday countywide, according to data from the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
With about 2,500 ICU beds in the county, that’s an availability far below 1 percent. The county has a population of more than 10 million people.
According to state data, Ventura County clocked in at 35 beds available as of Wednesday, or 3.7 percent of total capacity.
The Southern California region ICU bed availability is less than 1 percent. The state’s stay-at-home order becomes mandatory if the regional percentage dips below 15 percent, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in November.
Nurses at two hospitals in the Valley region have called a 10-day strike from Dec. 24 to Jan. 3 to protest unfair labor practices.
The two facilities – Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks and West Hills Hospital and Medical Center – are owned by Nashville-based Hospital Corporation of America, or HCA. Members of the Southern California Registered Nurse Union gave the company advanced notice to bring in temporary replacement staff in light of the pandemic, Service Employees International Union 121 said.
Negotiations will continue through the advance notice period, the union said, and a federal mediator will be brought on for the process.
Ellume s test kit.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved the first at-home COVID-19 test, developed by a biotech company with ties to the Valley region.
Digital diagnostics company Ellume Inc., which developed the test, is headquartered in Australia but has its U.S. offices in Valencia.
The $30 at-home test kit comes with a nasal swab and single-use Bluetooth-enabled test cartridge. It will allow people to test themselves for the virus without a prescription, Ellume said.
Data submitted to the FDA showed Ellume’s test to be 96 percent accurate, compared to emergency lab tests available. The company was able to fast-track test development with a $30 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics initiative.
Westlake Village BioPartners on Tuesday announced two new funds totaling $500 million to invest in life science startups and construct lab facilities for them.
The Westlake Village venture capital firm is working with Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. in Pasadena to build out laboratory and office space in Thousand Oaks for many of its portfolio startups.
So far, Alexandria has finished 30,000 square feet of space as part of a 130,000-square-foot, three-building campus in Thousand Oaks, according to Alexandria Chief Executive Joel Marcus. The space currently houses five Westlake startups from its 2018 fund, and will take on two more companies financed by the firm’s latest rounds.