Voters Cap Pay At El Camino Hospital; Adult STI Initiative Passes; SCAN Launches Health Literacy Program
Santa Clara County Voters Pass Initiative To Limit Executive Pay At El Camino Hospital
Santa Clara County voters narrowly passed an initiative that would cap the salaries of executives at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View at twice the salary of the sitting California governor.
The initiative, Measure M, passed by just under a four-point margin. It was sponsored by Service Employees International Union and the United Health Care Workers West, which has undergone rounds of contentious negotiations in recent years with the hospital.
Currently, Gov. Jerry Brown earns just under $174,000 a year. El Camino CEO Tomi Ryba earns just under $700,000.
A non-profit hospital CEO in California earned average total compensation of about $732,000 in 2008, according to data compiled by Payers & Providers.
El Camino officials said the initiative’s passage would impact not only Ryba’s pay, but at least nine other executives.
El Camino’s board of directors said it would consider a legal challenge to the initiative when it meets next week.
L.A. County Voters Approve Adult Film Reforms To Contain Spread Of STIs
Voters in Los Angeles County passed a ballot initiative that mandates adult film stars use condoms when working.
The initiative, Measure B, was authored and championed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. it passed by an 11-point margin.
"This is what democracy looks like; we took this to county government, and they didn't act so we took it directly to the voters, and they spoke conclusively," AHF President Michael Weinstein said.
Most of the nation’s adult film production takes place in the Los Angeles, primarily in private homes.
The AHF has been a vocal critic of the industry’s longstanding practice of having its performers engage in unprotected sex. Although adult film stars are required to be tested for sexually transmitted infections every month, the AHF contended that did not stop the spread of HIV.
Meanwhile, an organization called the Free Speech Coalition that has close ties to the adult film industry said it would mount a legal challenge to the newly passed law.
SCAN Launches Health Literacy Initiative
Long Beach-based Medicare Advantage health insurer SCAN Health Plan has launched an initiative that focuses on ensuring its 130,000 members receive healthcare information they can understand and use.
The goal of the program is to align SCAN with initiatives to improve health communication and literacy launched by the Institutes of Medicine and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The insurer has launched an internal training program for its employees to identify the health literacy needs of its members, and to align its oral and written communications accordingly.
“Health literacy is a major problem in the United States, and our program is designed to address this issue head on,” said Tim Schwab, M.D., SCAN’s chief medical officer. “Our commitment is to make sure that our members have the information they need to take charge of their health.”
