Melanie Evans October 19, 2009 In roughly nine months, Community Medical Centers went from an outcast in credit markets to a sought-after investment with a surplus of eager investors. ... FULL STORY
Jessica Zigmond October 19, 2009 When the deadly H1N1 influenza virus emerged last spring, federal health officials reported a fact that surprised many Americans: About 36,000 people in the U.S. die from the seasonal flu each year. ... FULL STORY
David Burda October 19, 2009 We’re going to take a short break from our gavel-to-gavel coverage of the national healthcare reform debate to make a brief commercial announcement. What do you think of our expanded editorial coverage this year? ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson October 19, 2009 Jackson Health System, Miami, removed its interim chief restructuring officer after news media pointed out to hospital administrators that the officer, Barry Dubin, was named as Individual A in an alleged criminal conspiracy in Chicago. ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center system said it plans to close its 146-bed UPMC Braddock (Pa.) hospital by Jan. 31 because low patient volumes have led to nearly $27 million in operating losses over the past six years. The system projects that losses would be $50 million over the next... ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to pass a compromise version of a bill that would ban brand-name drug manufacturers from using payment agreements to keep generic-drug manufacturers from introducing less-expensive versions of drugs once their patents expire. The legislation, called the Preserve... ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 Alegent Health President and CEO Wayne Sensor tendered his immediate resignation from the Omaha, Neb., system, just weeks after the medical staff at two of Alegent’s nine hospitals cast votes of no confidence in his leadership. The system did not announce a specific reason for Sensor’s... ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 A top official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there could be 10 million to 12 million fewer doses of the H1N1 flu vaccine available than the Atlanta-based agency had expected by the end of October. “Some manufacturers have let us know that production might be delayed... ... FULL STORY
Melanie Evans October 19, 2009 In roughly nine months, Community Medical Centers went from an outcast in credit markets to a sought-after investment with a surplus of eager investors. ... FULL STORY
Jennifer Lubell October 19, 2009 In the race to get health reforms approved by the end of the year, doctors and other healthcare lobbying groups are hoping that Medicare’s physician payment fix will be the first to cross the finish line. ... FULL STORY
Matthew DoBias October 19, 2009 Lawmakers in Washington ratcheted up pressure on hospitals to support a public plan option that pays them based on Medicare rates even while the sector has continued to nix such proposals. ... FULL STORY
Shawn Rhea October 19, 2009 Several industry trade groups are pressing lawmakers to remove taxes written into the Senate Finance Committee's healthcare reform bill from the final full Senate legislation. ... FULL STORY
Jean DerGurahian October 19, 2009 As policymakers continue to attempt to assemble a healthcare reform package, another group of providers is moving forward with its own plans to restructure payment policies and improve patient care. ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson October 19, 2009 The American Hospital Association continued cutting personnel expenses last week, eliminating the positions of four more employees, including two publicly visible executives who worked in policy and public outreach. ... FULL STORY
Joseph Conn October 19, 2009 In a boost to the open-source electronic health-records movement, Robert Kolodner, former head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, joined Open Health Tools, as chief health information officer. ... FULL STORY
Andis Robeznieks October 19, 2009 With baseball playoffs and a Senate Finance Committee vote on healthcare reform in the background, some 4,500 people met last week for the Medical Group Management Association's 83rd annual conference held in the group's Denver hometown. ... FULL STORY
Gregg Blesch October 19, 2009 The California Hospital Association is hopeful that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature on a bill last week means the state will move forward on a plan to attract a stimulus-sweetened match of federal Medicaid dollars by levying fees on hospitals. ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson October 19, 2009 California hospital owners are having trouble meeting the state-mandated deadlines for making their buildings more resistant to damage from earthquakes, saying that the ailing economy has left them unable to fund the improvements. ... FULL STORY
Joe Carlson October 19, 2009 Executives at Exempla Healthcare in Denver put in place an agreement last week that could finally end the years of litigation between the management of the system and its two religiously mixed sponsors. ... FULL STORY
Shawn Rhea October 19, 2009 Elliot Health System President and CEO Doug Dean doesn't tell a happy story about his hospital's foray into the world of managed care some 15 years ago. ... FULL STORY
Jessica Zigmond October 19, 2009 When the deadly H1N1 influenza virus emerged last spring, federal health officials reported a fact that surprised many Americans: About 36,000 people in the U.S. die from the seasonal flu each year. ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 TALLAHASEE, Fla.—Holly Benson, the secretary of Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration, tendered her resignation, effective Oct. 28, according to a copy of her resignation letter provided by the AHCA. Benson, 38, was appointed to the position in February 2008 by Florida Gov. ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 DOWNEY, Calif.—Downey Regional Medical Center debt was downgraded to C from CCC by Standard & Poor’s and the ratings agency suspended the hospital’s rating after the facility filed for bankruptcy last month and failed to release financial statements for the past three... ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 EVERGREEN PARK, Ill.—The board of directors of 294-bed Little Company of Mary Hospital voted to move forward with plans to build a new pavilion that will be the centerpiece of plan to modernize the campus just southwest of Chicago. The nine-story addition is designed to include 96... ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 HARRISBURG, Pa.—Pennsylvania's overdue budget included smaller cuts to hospital revenue than proposed, but redirected existing taxes and fees into the state's $27.8 billion general fund from healthcare funds and added a Medicaid managed-care tax. The Hospital & Healthsystem Association... ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 “The good news in yesterday's Senate Finance Committee vote for healthcare reform was that Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine joined the effort and rewarded the push for bipartisan backing by President Obama and committee chairman Max Baucus. The bad news was the bill itself—a small... ... FULL STORY
David Burda October 19, 2009 We’re going to take a short break from our gavel-to-gavel coverage of the national healthcare reform debate to make a brief commercial announcement. What do you think of our expanded editorial coverage this year? ... FULL STORY
John Newport October 19, 2009 Accomplishing truly meaningful healthcare reform will require nothing short of a ‘National Call to Wellness,' spearheaded by Obama himself. ... As an underlying precondition for healthcare reform, he must ... FULL STORY
Anne Weiss October 19, 2009 Like politics, all healthcare is local, and that's why during this political season in Washington, it's worthwhile to observe local laboratories where reform happens every day. ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 I find your Oct. 5 editorial (“Lunar eclipse,” p. 17) absolutely offensive, even though I understand where you are pointing it. Our system has indeed grown overwhelmingly bureaucratic and less responsive to its citizens. America used to be the pioneer; now we're the obstruction. ... FULL STORY
John Osse October 19, 2009 After 31 years in rural healthcare administration, the thought of retirement was appealing. I was ready when it happened on July 1, 2005. ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, added the title of president to the duties of COO J. Bradley Wilson. Bob Greczyn, who plans to retire in 2010 at an unspecified date, ceded... ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 Park Nicollet Health Services, St. Louis Park, Minn., tapped physician David Abelson, 58, to become CEO and president of the system on Jan. 1, 2010. Abelson will replace David Wessner, 57, who announced his retirement in June and will step down Dec. 31. Abelson was made president of... ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 Lynn O’Mara was named Nevada’s health information technology project manager and assigned to “coordinate and manage activities to develop a statewide health information exchange,” the state’s Health and Human Services Department announced. According to a news... ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 “We just finished the first quarter. There are three quarters to play. The bench is worn out. The quarterback keeps getting sacked. And the crowd has about had it, too.” ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 While the twisting legal saga of Richard Scrushy has had a yard sale air lately, the case took another turn last week when the imprisoned former CEO of HealthSouth Corp. claimed he just didn’t know where many of his assets are located. Scrushy, who is serving a sentence in federal prison in... ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 Although he's only been in office a few days, Forrest “Dean” Danner Jr., the new board chairman of the Medical Group Management Association and the vice president and chief operating officer of Wausau, Wis.-based Aspirus Clinics, has already had an immediate impact on at least one... ... FULL STORY
October 19, 2009 Nurses worn down by the demands of the job may have a stylish new champion. The Urban Zen Foundation, founded by the fashion designer Donna Karan, has added a two-day nursing workshop to its roster of wellness events. ... FULL STORY
