HEALTH

California Hospital Chains to Merge: San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West, the second-largest California chain with 16 hospitals in the state, will merge with Daughters of Charity National Health System-West, which is based in Los Altos and has six facilities, among them St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles. Sister Eileen Kenny, president of the board of directors of DCNHS-West, said the merger will make it easier to meet “our mutual goal of providing high-quality health care to our communities, especially the poor and others without adequate access to health services.” The merged entity will rival Kaiser, the state’s largest group, which has 25 hospitals. Few layoffs are expected, officials said.