Education
Chapman University has put off a plan to expand its campus by 17 acres and add about 3,000 students, according to the Orange County Register. The decision comes after some people in the community surrounding the university expressed opposition to the proposed development. Chapman will put off applying for an update of its plan with the city of Orange that governs development. It will instead submit a different plan later, perhaps next year. Meanwhile, Coast Community College District officials scaled back an expansion at Orange Coast College, according to the L.A. Times. They killed plans for a hotel on campus, cut planned campus student housing in half, and switched the location of a planned parking structure from the Orange County Fairgrounds to OCC’s campus.
Corinthian Colleges Inc.’s bankruptcy plan was approved by a bankruptcy judge, the Wall Street Journal said. The plan liquidates the Santa Ana-based company’s assets and sets aside $4 million for former students pursuing loan forgiveness. The defunct for-profit college operator began to wind down operations last summer and sold or closed campuses. About half of its 107 locations were bought last fall by Minnesota-based Zenith Education Group.
Healthcare
Fountain Valley-based MemorialCare Health System is collaborating with West Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna Inc. on a new accountable care network called Aetna Whole Health-MemorialCare. The network has about 2,000 doctors, seven hospitals and more than 40 urgent care centers. Aetna Whole Health-MemorialCare will be available to self-insured employers in OC and portions of L.A. County on Sept. 1, and benefits take effect on Nov. 1. The companies said they anticipate Aetna Whole Health-MemorialCare to be available to fully insured Aetna subscribers early next year.
Nvision Eye Centers in Aliso Viejo acquired Walman Eye Centers in Phoenix. Its clinics perform laser-assisted in-situ kera tomileusis, or Lasik, in addition to cataract surgeries.
St. Joseph Hoag Health and Masimo Corp., both based in Irvine, said they plan to open a wellness center in the Discovery Drive headquarters of Masimo, which makes patient monitors. It will start with wellness services and add medical services next month. St. Joseph Health is a partnership between Irvine-based St. Joseph Health and Newport Beach-based Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian.
Hoag Hospital opened a residential substance-abuse treatment center in Newport Beach. The Sol-Mar Recovery facility has 21 beds.
Manufacturing
A Huntington Beach-based company that claimed its Nano-UV products could disinfect surfaces with their ultraviolet light wands agreed to refund more than $200,000 to customers after the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint alleging false advertising. Zadro Health Solutions Inc. claimed the products killed most bacteria on surfaces, including dangerous bacteria, such as E. coli, but didn’t have scientific evidence to back up the claims, the FTC said.
Philanthropy
George and Julianne Argyros donated $13.5 million to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts’ $68 million Next Act Campaign to redesign its exterior plaza (see related item in OC Insider, page 3). It’s the campaign’s biggest donation, and the plaza will be named after the couple. The project is scheduled to start next year and take about a year to finish. George Argyros is chairman and chief executive of Arnel & Affiliates and founding partner of Westar Capital LLC.
Transportation
The U.S. Transportation Department said air traffic control at John Wayne Airport is among the least financially efficient in the country. The department’s inspector general found that the operations were “frequently least efficient.” The Federal Aviation Administration, which operates the airport’s traffic-control towers, said comparisons of airports’ towers doesn’t take into account the size of the facilities and differences in traffic volume, among other considerations.
