By Joe Carlson October 26, 2009 Less than a week after abruptly losing its CEO, not-for-profit Alegent Health in Omaha, Neb., has accepted the resignations of its executive vice president, its chief medical officer and two other executives. ... FULL STORY
October 26, 2009 CHICAGO—The county-run healthcare system in the Chicago area is notifying 335 employees they will lose their jobs as part of a comprehensive effort to balance staffing with services. The cuts, which also include the elimination of nearly 700 vacant positions, are guided by a review conducted by Navigant Consulting. One phase is taking place in fiscal 2009, which ends Nov. 30, with a second round planned for 2010. The reductions ultimately are expected to save Cook County Health & Hospitals System $60 million a year. The requested fiscal 2010 budget is $887 million. “This is... ... 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 private patient rooms and a women's health center to include labor and delivery suites. The Catholic hospital was established nearly 80 years ago, and the plan also calls for significant renovation of space in an existing pavilion and for the original X-shaped tower to be demolished, making room for... ... FULL STORY
September 21, 2009 LANSING, Mich.—Blue Care Network of Michigan, Southfield, struck a deal to acquire the membership of Physicians Health Plan of Mid-Michigan from Sparrow Health System, Lansing. Mid-Michigan was founded in 1980 as an HMO and now has 80,000 members, including 18,000 in Medicaid managed care. The transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed, requires approval from the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation and the Michigan Community Health Department. Sparrow President and CEO Dennis Swan said in a news release that the deal would “strengthen our ability... ... FULL STORY
By Vince Galloro August 31, 2009 What a local community group couldn’t negotiate from Catholic Health Initiatives, Kansas Attorney General Steve Six will try to win in court. ... FULL STORY
August 31, 2009 MILWAUKEE—Patients looking for a natural refuge during their hospital stays at 733-bed Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center can now visit the hospital’s all-season rooftop healing garden. The $4.9 million project includes the outdoor Vince Lombardi Charitable Funds Healing Garden and the indoor Agnes and Morland Hamilton Healing Conservatory. Nearly one-third of the 14,000-square-foot garden is enclosed in the conservatory for year-round use during Milwaukee’s cold winter months. The project was built entirely with donated funds atop the eighth floor of the... ... FULL STORY
August 17, 2009 FALLS CITY, Neb.—The new Community Medical Center is set to open this November. Construction began April 20, 2008, on the $22 million, 58,000-square-foot facility that replaces a 25-bed facility originally built in 1918. The new facility is being built on a 70-acre property on the north edge of town and has room for expansion, spokeswoman Linda Santo said. It will have 24 patient rooms, family medicine and specialty clinics, a surgical center, plus labor and delivery rooms and maternity suites. The original building, which was once known as Our Lady of Perpetual Help Hospital... ... FULL STORY
May 18, 2009 JOPLIN, Mo.—Sisters of Mercy Health System, Chesterfield, Mo., and Catholic Health Initiatives, Denver, said earlier this month that they have signed a letter of intent to explore the sale of CHI’s 357-bed St. John’s Regional Medical Center, Joplin, to Sisters of Mercy. No terms were disclosed. The Roman Catholic systems plan to conduct due diligence while negotiating a definitive agreement over the next several months. The sponsorship transfer also is subject to regulatory approvals. St. John’s is CHI’s only hospital in Missouri, among the 60 in its portfolio. Sisters of Mercy... ... FULL STORY
March 02, 2009 WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich.—On March 15, Henry Ford Health System plans to open Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital, its seventh hospital and the first new one the system has built since Henry Ford Hospital (now with 768 beds) opened in Detroit in 1915. The $360 million West Bloomfield facility has 730,000 square feet and will staff 191 beds to start, expanding to 300 in 2011. A 16-bed unit is designated as a female-only floor, and the hospital plans to study whether women fare better there than on its mixed-gender floors. The new hospital, which is designed to resemble a northern Michigan... ... FULL STORY
February 02, 2009 BOARDMAN, Ohio—Akron Children’s Hospital opened a 32-bed children’s hospital called Beeghly Campus in Boardman on Dec. 8, 2008. In late 2007 the 253-bed Akron hospital and Humility of Mary Health Partners, a region of Catholic Healthcare Partners, paid equal shares of $26 million to acquire what was known as Beeghly Medical Park in Boardman from struggling three-hospital Forum Health. Over the next year Akron Children’s invested $17 million to transform the existing buildings into the Beeghly Campus hospital, which fills a void created by the 2007 closure of Forum’s Tod Children’s... ... FULL STORY
January 12, 2009 CHICAGO—St. Anthony Hospital opened a new and bigger emergency department to serve the growing population in the surrounding neighborhoods, which brings a larger-than-average percentage of pediatric patients through the 151-bed hospital’s doors. The department, at 6,600 square feet, has more than doubled in size as a result of the project. Planning for the $3.5 million project started six years ago and construction was phased to cause minimal disruption to care. The hospital serves growing communities on the southwest side of Chicago, and 50% of the patients served in its emergency... ... FULL STORY
December 22, 2008 As fiscal pressures cause lawmakers to ponder new hospital taxes and deep Medicaid cuts, the City Council of Columbus is giving a local hospital $15 million in tax breaks. ... FULL STORY
