It’s been a big week for Inland Empire healthcare news. Riverside Community Hospital (RCH) announced it would build an 11-story tower that could add up to 446 beds and house a new labor and delivery unit. Completion is expected in 2030. 

The new tower will be connected to the hospital’s newest tower, built in 2017, through connected hallways on its first seven floors. The new labor and delivery ward will be placed on the same level as the existing natal intensive care unit.

RCH currently has 562 licensed inpatient beds, but 339 of those beds, will be shut down in 2030, including the current labor and delivery ward, housed in Building B. 

Built in the 1960’s, the building is considered noncompliant to earthquake safety regulations,  according to David Maxfield, RCH director of communications and community engagement. California hospitals cannot provide more than 20% of inpatient care in structures noncompliant with earthquake regulations. The space will be used for outpatient services, offices and meeting spaces, Maxfield wrote. 

After the tower is completed and the old building decommissioned, the hospital is expected to have 669 beds.

The new tower and a parking garage will cost $912 million, and provide 18 delivery rooms, three c-section suites, 220 medical surgical beds, 54 intensive care beds and four procedure rooms, among other new facilities.

“This expansion marks an incredible milestone for the City of Riverside and the communities we serve,” said Peter Hemstead, chief executive officer of Riverside Community Hospital, in a press release. “This new tower will not only enhance our ability to meet the growing needs of our patients but also ensure this community has access to the highest standard of care, now and in the future. We are proud to be a part of this transformative journey to support the health and well-being of all.”

That’s the infrastructure update, but how about the staff? According to the California Health Care Almanac’s 2025 report, the Inland Empire falls short in its physician to resident ratio. The region has 42 primary care physicians and 88 specialists per 100,000 residents. The state average is 61 physicians per 100,000, and 141 specialists per 100,000. The recommended ratio is 60-80 physicians per 100,000, and 85-105 specialists per 100,000.

The Press-Enterprise published two articles on the efforts of local universities to even up that supply.

“A big part of addressing the area’s workforce shortage is getting folks to work in our community,” Dr. Daniel Teraguchi, UCR’s executive associate dean for student affairs, told the Press-Enterprise.

Cal State San Bernardino scrapped its Master of Science in Physician Assistant program, after it was denied provisional accreditation in August, the Press-Enterprise reported in a 1,500-word article. The program was supposed to begin this fall, with 40 students. 

Elsewhere in the IE, programs are running well. The Press-Enterprise profiled the medical programs offered by University of California, Riverside, California Baptist University and the five-year-old Colton campus of the California University of Science and Medicine.

Two opposite responses to the homelessness in San Bernardino County have been covered in the news this week: one to provide jobs, the other to clear encampments. The Redlands Chamber of Commerce has started a job placement program for people who are newly or nearly homeless, Community Forward Redlands reported. The program has existed since February 2024, and to date has gotten 30 people employed. 

Community Forward Redlands quoted one man that received employment through the program.

“(Chamber staff) helped me through the whole process from searching and applying to staying in touch with the hiring manager. I’m old school and not big on phones or tech stuff, so having that support made a big difference,” he said.

Kayla Santos, the Chamber staffer who runs the program, told CalMatters that she hopes to assist 25 people every month. In September, due to a job fair, their real numbers ran into the hundreds. People are referred to the program from a wide range of sources: San Bernardino County, the Family Services Association, Steps for Life, the Center for the Realization of Spirit and the Redlands Charitable Resources Coalition. They also accept walk-ins.

County-wide, the Hi-Desert Star reported on San Bernardino County’s ban against sleeping on public property. The ordinance will place $100 fines for laying down a tent or bedding in a place not designated as a campground. 

As CalMatters’ Marisa Kendall reported on June 27, governments across California have been arresting and citing more homeless people in the last year. Policies have changed following a June 28, 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that granted cities additional powers to fine people sleeping in public places. That ruling, Grants Pass v. Johnson, had established that an Oregon city ordinance that made it illegal for homeless people to camp on public property was not unconstitutional. Prior to that, the Inland Empire’s federal appellate court had ruled that punishing someone for camping in public, if they have nowhere else to sleep, is cruel and unusual punishment.

Five CalMatters journalists examined the impact a government shutdown will have on national parks, social security, travel and wildfires. 

The article started by recounting the effect the two-month government shutdown starting in December 2018 had on Joshua Tree National Park:

Unsupervised, visitors drove through wilderness and historic sites, camped where they weren’t supposed to, and vandalized plants and buildings at parks across California. The trash — and the feces — piled up. In the days after the shutdown ended, park staff found at least 1,665 clumps of toilet paper littering Death Valley alone, where an estimated half-ton of human waste had been left outside the restrooms. 

“It was insane to leave the gates open and tell the staff not to show up in the park — for our public lands, and all of our special places in this country, to be unprotected,” said Lauretig, a retired law enforcement park ranger and president of the Friends of Joshua Tree nonprofit.

Read the story here.

Correction: The Ontario Tower Buzzers, reported in last week's edition, will be the Dodgers' Single-A affiliate, not Triple-A.

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