LOS ANGELES : Hospital Council Changes Name in Reorganization

The 72-year-old Hospital Council of Southern California has changed its name to the Healthcare Assn. of Southern California and begun representing physician groups, health maintenance organizations and other networks of health-care providers.

Before the reorganization, which required two years of planning and negotiation, the council’s chief focus was on hospitals. The change was brought about because of a wholesale reshuffling of traditional health care providers sparked by the widespread acceptance of managed care and marketplace reforms, hospital officials said.

“We’ll become a unifying force for broad public policy and legislative advocacy for all health providers,” said Jim Barber, president of the hospital council, who will keep the same title as head of the new association.

The hospital council was formed by 14 Los Angeles hospitals in 1923, and in recent years represented more than 200 health care institutions in Southern California.