Oakland, CA, hospital chief shocked at defeat

Voters in Alameda County, CA, have turned down a parcel tax to help build a new $750 million Children's Hospital in Oakland, a move that has stunned the hospital's chief executive and left him searching for financial alternatives. The nonprofit hospital had counted on raising $300 million to help fund a 250-bed, seismically safe facility near the current facility. The rest of the funding would have come from state bonds and private donations. Some of the money raised would have paid to upgrade the existing hospital and turn it into an outpatient facility.