Digital Insight signed a 7-year deal to provide online banking services to TotalBank, the company announced Wednesday. Miami-based TotalBank serves 24,000 customers and has $1.3 billion in assets. TotalBank chose Calabasas-based Digital Insight because of its portfolio of products and services that can met customer needs and the bank’s business goals, said TotalBank President and CEO William J. Heffernan, in a statement. “We were looking for a proven partner to help us achieve greater operational efficiencies and growth via the online channel,” Heffernan said. TotalBank’s personal banking customers will have access to bill payment, check imaging, funds transfer with aggregation and online statements. Business banking customers will have access to check imaging, ARP positive pay and web pay for small businesses.

An online patient survey of California medical centers released Wednesday found that just three out of nine participating Valley-area hospitals were ranked as “superior.” Calhospitalcompare.org, a project funded by the California HealthCare Foundation and California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce, found that only Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills and Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills achieved rankings above the statewide average. The lowest rankings went Simi Valley Hospital, Northridge Hospital Medical Center and Kaiser Permanente Panorama City. The project asked patients from 209 California hospitals that volunteered to participate in the program to rank service and care on a 100-point scale. The site lists the following stats for the nine hospitals: Providence Holy Cross: 88 Providence Saint Joseph: 87 Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills: 84 Glendale Memorial Hospital & Health Center: 74 Glendale Adventist Medical Center: 73 Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital: 73 Northridge Hospital Medical Center: 71 Kaiser Permanente Panorama City: 68 Simi Valley Hospital: 60 Statewide average: 79

Valley City Councilman Greig Smith has proposed a city ordinance to allow the city Environmental Affairs Department to issue orders to stop polluters that threaten public health. If passed, it would be the first time a city agency has been able to issue such orders. Currently, the city must notify the county Health Department, Regional Water Quality Board or state agencies to issue citations. “This will give our departments a tool to stop polluters that threaten our public health and safety in their tracks,” Smith said in a written statement. The ordinance would create an inspector within the Environmental Affairs Department authorized to issue preliminary cease and desist orders to stem businesses operating illegally. The motion calls for city departments to report on the feasibility of the ordinance.

Precision Dynamics Corp. will release a new line of identification bands for the leisure and entertainment market, the company announced Tuesday. The ID bands will be available in custom colors with logo and brand image possibilities. San Fernando-based Precision Dynamics is a leading maker of wristbands for admissions, access control, group ID and more. SureImage Wristbands are made of Valeron, a high strength film that can be printed to fit a venue’s specifications, including full-color logos, pictures and brand images. Tytan-Band Expressions bands provide a custom look without the cost of custom printing. ClearImage Wristband will be made available in April in five new colors. The bands are made of a waterproof vinyl with locking plastic snap for added security.

Speaking at an investor conference, Countrywide Financial Corp. officials today told investors that the company was well-fortified against the problems in the mortgage market. The comments helped to staunch the share price decline that the Calabasas-based company saw yesterday as a result of the broader problems in the mortgage sector. Countrywide’s share price closed today up $1.65 to $36.85 per share. The company’s stock yesterday fell as news broke that another subprime lender was facing a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation. Countrywide CFO Eric Sieracki told investors in a conference in Orlando that, while those with businesses exclusively in the subprime sector were likely to suffer, Countrywide’s broader business mix would insulate the company from similar woes. “We’re a top-conditioned athlete,” he told the group.

The director of Glendale Water and Power plans to step down from the post this spring, the city announced Tuesday. Ignacio R. Troncoso will retire from the position May 7 after six years with the city. The resignation will take effect in July. Troncoso is credited with implementing environment, safety and security improvements. Previously, Troncoso worked 24 years at the El Paso Electric Co. in Texas. No replacement has been named.

Wi-Fi networks made by Xirrus Inc. have been chosen for use in medical and corporate conferences produced by Advance Concepts, the company announced Tuesday. The equipment from Westlake Village-based Xirrus was recently used by Advance Concepts at a medical conference in Florida. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array handled more than 200 users who downloaded more than 20,000 filed during the six-day event, said John DiGiovanni, director of marketing, in a statement. “With an average file size of 1MB that translated into a huge amount of traffic highlighting the scalability and resiliency of the Array,” DiGiovanni said. Advance Concepts went with Xirrus because its product was easy to set up and allowed hundreds of doctors to download files quickly and with minimal assistance, said President Phil Joseph, in a statement.

Warner Bros. Entertainment has joined Universal Pictures and a partnership of three movie theater chains to develop a digital cinema delivery system, the company announced Tuesday. The collaboration is the first between studios and exhibitors to create a delivery system for digital content. Warner Bros. Entertainment is based in Burbank. “Utilizing digital distribution technologies to support digital cinema seems like a natural progression and complementary to the roll-out of projection systems that is currently taking place,” said Darcy Antonellis, executive vice president, distribution and technology operations, in a statement released Tuesday. Digital distribution can be done through satellite or broadband components. It streamlines the process and limits the number of people handling the product, which is expected to increase security and support the fight against film piracy. Digital Cinema Implementation Partners is owned equally Regal Entertainment Group, AMC Entertainment Inc. and Cinemark USA. The partnership represents more than 14,000 screens in the U.S. “This system will provide theater owners with greater scheduling flexibility as it allows for real-time bookings to meet audience demand and expands the theater’s ability to deliver alternative programming,” said DCIP CEO Travis Reid, in the statement.

Construction is moving forward on a multiphase project to expand the Simi Valley Hospital emergency department. The first, $250,000 portion to renovate the department’s 5,600-square-foot guest lobby and patient care areas is expected to finish by summer. Construction started in January. Once completed, plans call for installing a new ER fast track system to provide care for patients will less severe illnesses and minor injuries. Both projects are intended cut patient wait times in the ER, which currently handles 50 percent more patients than it was designed to handle, and increase the hospital’s ability to provide emergency care during a disaster.

The United Food and Commercial Workers has extended the contract deadline covering workers at Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons for two weeks as the union and the corporations continue discussions. The contract was due to expire Monday night. Among the proposals on the table from the UFCW is a plan to eliminate the current two-tier wage system agreed upon during the last round of negotiations three years ago. Under that plan, new hires are paid less than longtime employees and have a longer waiting period before receiving benefits. The extension, requested by a federal mediator working with the two sides, may be extended again when the two-week period expires March 19.