DOVER, Del.—BayHealth Medical Center completed a $47 million expansion of its Kent General Hospital campus. The project, which began in August 2008, added a 375-space parking garage and treatment bays to the hospital's emergency room, a spokesman said in an e-mail.

The project consolidated cancer care into two stories that include three radiation therapy vaults. Also included in the project are a 7,000-square-foot pharmacy, 30,000-square-foot central service building and 3,500-square-foot security department.

YORK, Pa.—Community Health Systems said it reached a definitive agreement to acquire Memorial Hospital, which would be the hospital chain's 17th hospital in Pennsylvania. Community said in a news release that the agreement calls for the Franklin, Tenn.-based company to build a replacement hospital within five years of the closing date, which is subject to regulatory approvals that include a review by the Pennsylvania attorney general. Financial terms were not disclosed. Community would purchase substantially all of the assets of the 100-bed hospital and its parent, Memorial Health Systems, which also includes an ambulatory surgery center and other outpatient services. “After evaluating potential partners, we selected Community Health Systems to help us maintain choice and transform healthcare in our community,” Memorial President and CEO Sally Dixon said in a news release. On Jan. 1, Community closed a deal adding two-hospital Moses Taylor Health Care System, Scranton, Pa., to its holdings. “As we continue to expand our operations across Pennsylvania, we are excited about the prospect of applying our capital and management resources to help serve this growing community,” Wayne Smith, Community's chairman, president and CEO, said in its release announcing the York agreement. Hospital care in York is dominated by WellSpan Health's 560-bed York Hospital.

Patrick said Massachusetts has to end the fee-for-service model. Photo credit: AP Photo

BOSTON—Gov. Deval Patrick is calling on lawmakers to pass a sweeping overhaul of the healthcare payment system in Massachusetts. In his state of the state address Monday, Patrick said Massachusetts has to end the “fee-for-service” model that rewards doctors and hospitals for the amount of care they deliver instead of the quality. Patrick said the system needs to be changed to reward doctors and other healthcare providers for coordinating patient care and focusing on keeping patients healthy instead of treating each illness. Patrick said the state also needs to overhaul its medical malpractice laws. State lawmakers have already said that healthcare cost containment is a top issue for the new year. They say bringing costs under control is critical to maintaining the state's landmark 2006 healthcare law.

RIDGEWOOD, N.J.—Valley Hospital announced it formed an accountable care organization. The 446-bed hospital said its ACO jointly applied with Atlantic Health System, Morristown, N.J., to become a Medicare ACO starting in April. Applications for the Medicare program, which offers financial incentives for healthcare quality and cost control, were due Jan. 20. Atlantic Health, which includes Morristown Medical Center and Overlook Medical Center in Summit, said the combined ACO would include 1,200 doctors and operate across five New Jersey counties. The CMS will name its first group of Medicare ACOs by March 16. Medicare will contract with a second group of accountable care organizations starting July 1, but the CMS does not begin accepting applications for the second wave until March 1. Ellen Griffith, a spokeswoman for the CMS, declined to say how many organizations applied to become Medicare accountable care organizations as of April 1. “All I can tell you is that we are very pleased with the number of applications we received,” Griffith said in an e-mail.

Construction of Katz Women’s Hospital and Zuckerberg Pavilion added 95 hospital beds to Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

NEW HYDE PARK, N.Y.—North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System finished construction on Katz Women's Hospital and Zuckerberg Pavilion at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. Construction began three years ago on the $300 million project. It includes a 10-story glass tower with 162 single-bed hospital rooms, as well as the 57,000-square-foot Zuckerberg Pavilion, which houses 60 surgical rooms and physical therapy services. Katz Women's Hospital, which opened last week, includes 88 single-bed rooms and 14 additional rooms for labor and delivery. Overall, the project added 95 hospital beds to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, a spokesman said.

WINDSOR, Vt.—Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center, a 35-bed hospital, won the Foster G. McGaw Prize for excellence in community service for 2011. The annual $100,000 prize is awarded by the Baxter International Foundation, the American Hospital Association and the Health Research & Educational Trust.

Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center was awarded the prize for its “broad-based efforts to improve the lives of the most vulnerable members of its community,” according to a news release. Some of the hospital's efforts consist of a community health infrastructure, including 14 health promotion and disease prevention programs; a substance abuse prevention program aimed at students; a health clinic; the Windsor Connection Resource Center, which provides information about health and social services ranging from mental health services to transportation and crisis shelter services; and a residential care and independent living campus. “Through such efforts, Mt. Ascutney demonstrates its commitment to pursuing the goals of health promotion and disease prevention, as well as the achievement of health and well-being for the community,” said John O'Brien, chair of the Foster G. McGaw Prize Committee, in the news release. The award finalists, which each receive $10,000, are AtlantiCare, a system in Atlantic City, N.J.; 907-bed Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston; and Palmetto Health, a three-hospital system based in Columbia, S.C. It is the second year that Palmetto Health has been named a finalist.

Geisinger Health System has agreed to invest nearly $159 million in Community Medical Center.

SCRANTON, Pa.—Pennsylvania regulators approved Geisinger Health System's acquisition of Community Medical Center. The deal, announced in July, won clearance from the Pennsylvania attorney general and the state health department, Geisinger said in a news release. The deal is expected to close Feb. 1, Geisinger said. In a notice to bond holders, Geisinger said Community Medical Center, a 232-bed hospital in Scranton, Mountain View Care Center and all affiliates of the Community Medical Center Healthcare System would become “controlled entities” of Geisinger under the deal. Two members of the Community Medical Center board will join the Geisinger Health System Foundation board of directors, Geisinger said in a news release. Geisinger, based in Danville, Pa., agreed to invest nearly $159 million in Community Medical Center clinical programs, physician recruitment, construction and renovation and information technology.