Kaiser strengthens its resolve on seismically safe facilities: state had pushed back deadline on upgrades.

CALIFORNIA hospitals, which originally faced their first deadline for completing billions of dollars worth of earthquake safety improvements this year, got some respite when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved legislation that provided greater flexibility for some "fiscally challenged" hospitals.

But many of the state's larger hospital groups, such as Kaiser Permanente, have been proceeding with their retrofit and reconstruction projects anyway. Kaiser recently opened one of its first new seismically safe facilities in Southern California at the West Los Angeles Medical Center. A grand opening event is planned for later this month.

The 106-bed patient tower, which cost around $230 million, is among 11 new or renovated facilities that Kaiser plans to open in the region over the next few years at an estimated total cost of between $3 billion to $4 billion.

Kaiser West L.A. has 305 licensed beds, but many of those were located in a somewhat newer part of the complex that already met state standards.

Like many local hospitals, including UCLA Medical Center, the Kaiser physicians, staff and even patients took the opportunity to help plan the upgrade capabilities and reconfigure the flow of hospital life.

"We really want to challenge all our stakeholders to create a unique healing environment," said Dr. Howard Fullman, medical director for the West Los Angeles service area of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group.

Kaiser West L.A., home to some of the group's top laproscopic surgeons, now has a state of the art Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery. German medical device maker Karl Storz, which helped pioneer modern endoscopy--which involves the use of small cameras to peer inside bodies--uses the hospital as a testing site, providing it with equipment not yet available anywhere else in the U.S.

The new hospital building also features the latest trends in patient room design, with nearly all rooms private and centralized hook-ups that enable high-tech equipment to be moved from room to room as needed. There's also a healing garden on the adjacent grounds.

New Ownership

Deals for a local nutritional supplement company and a hospital closed at years end.

Plethico Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a Mumbai, India-based pharmaceutical and supplement maker, completed its $81 million acquisition of Chatswoah-based Natrol Inc.

Around 92 percent of outstanding shares of Natrol common stock were tendered and accepted for $4.40 net per share in cash. The transaction was a short-form merger, allowed under law in Delaware where Natrol is incorporated, that didn't require a vote or any other action by remaining Natrol stockholders.

In the deal. Plethico gained easy entry.' into the U.S. and United Kingdom markets for its products and the opportunity to sell Natrol brands in India and neighboring countries.

In the second deal. an affiliated entity of AHMC Healthcare Inc. announced that it had completed the acquisition of San Gabriel Valley Medical Center, from Catholic Healthcare West for an undisclosed amount.

AHMC has promised to continue to operate the 273-bed facility in San Gabriel as an acute care hospital with a 24-hour emergency department for at least the next five years

AHMC owns Garfield Medical Center, Monterey Park Hospital, Whittier Medical Center and Greater El Monte Community Hospital, which it acquired from Tenet Healthcare Corp. in 2004.

IPC Expands

As current and potential shareholders await more information on a proposed initial public offering, IPC the Hospitalist Co. Inc. added to its business last month.

The North Hollywood-based manager of hospital-based physician groups acquired Diagnostic Medical Inpatient Team P.A., a hospitalist group that serves two large hospitals in San Antonio.

The purchase of the Admit Hospitalist Group was IPC's seventh acquisition in 2007. IPC owns or provides management services to hospitalist practices operating in more than 300 facilities across 16 states and is one of the largest businesses of its type in the nation.

The company in late August filed a preliminary prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make an initial public offering on the Nasdaq that could raise up to $105 million, the first in the hospitalist industry. Indications at the time of the filing were that a final prospectus would be ready by the end of the year.

But the company in mid-December amended its filing, indicating the offering would not be made until at least 2008, giving rise to speculation that the credit crunch was delaying progress.

Credit Suisse Securities LLC and Jefferies & Company, Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers, with Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC and William Blair & Company, LLC as co-managers. Executives have declined comment on the IPO due to SEC "quiet period" restrictions.

Staff reporter Deborah Crowe can be reached at [phone], ext. 232, or at [e-mail].