How local hospitals' acute care patients fared

Sonoma County hospitals admitted 38,232 patients last year for acute care. Of them, 26,380 - or nearly 70 percent - returned home when they were discharged.

Nearly 5,400 patients went to other facilities, including nursing homes and residential care facilities; nearly 4,700 received home health services; 237 left against medical advice; 47 went to jail; and 829 died, according to data compiled by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.

The patients stayed an average of 3.9 days in the hospital, and female patients outnumbered males 58 percent to 42 percent, with males staying, on average, almost a day longer than females.

Three out of four patients were white (28,824). There were 6,767 Latino patients (18 percent), 1,104 Asian/Pacific Islanders (3 percent), 634 African-Americans (2 percent) and 303 Native American/Eskimo patients (1 percent). Six hundred patients (2 percent) were classified as unknown or other ethnicity.

Government programs provided the primary payment for nearly 24,000 patients, or 63 percent, including Medicare (40 percent) and Medi-Cal (20 percent). Nearly 12,600 patients had private insurance (33 percent), and 669 paid their own bill (2 percent).