Ruth Rothstein, the former chief of the Cook County Bureau of Health Services who was credited for turning around what was once an outdated public health system in Chicago into one of the country's leading models and was considered a major figure among public hospital leaders, has died at the age of 90.
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MAYWOOD, Ill.—Loyola University Chicago is scheduled to break ground Aug. 16 on a new $137 million medical research and education building at its Health Sciences Campus in Maywood. A collaborative project with Catholic Health East-Trinity—the parent of Loyola University Health System—the five-story, 227,000-square-foot Loyola University Chicago Center for Translational Research and Education is scheduled to open in April 2016. “This project is one of the most significant outcomes of the partnership of Loyola University Chicago, Loyola University Health System...
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JOLIET, Ill.—A Will County judge last week ordered the Illinois health facilities board to explain why it approved Centegra Health System's plan for a new $233 million hospital in Chicago's northwest suburbs even though the panel's staff found that the proposal didn't meet state standards. The judge's ruling gives new hope to competitors that objected to the new hospital. In July 2012, Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board approved a Centegra proposal for a 128-bed hospital in Huntley, an abrupt reversal of an earlier decision to reject the plan. The staff of the...
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Five clinical service chiefs at Royal Oak, Mich.-based Beaumont Health System delivered a letter to the Beaumont board of directors asking the board to reconsider its proposed merger with Henry Ford Health System, sources told Crain's Detroit Business. Three board members voted to block a vote to reconsider the merger, sources said. The board then tabled a discussion on the issue for at least three weeks to conduct more due diligence on the extent of opposition from the Beaumont physicians, the sources said.
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LUDINGTON, Mich.—Memorial Medical Center in Ludington is the latest hospital with plans to become a member of Spectrum Health. Memorial Medical, an 80-bed hospital near the shore of Lake Michigan, signed a nonbinding letter of intent to join the not-for-profit system, based about 90 miles south in Grand Rapids. The decision comes after a vote last fall in which Memorial Medical Center's board of directors decided to investigate possible relationships with larger and more integrated healthcare systems. Memorial Medical Center looked at 27 options before narrowing the field to...
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NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.—New York City-based Montefiore Health System announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York for its affiliates to acquire the assets of Sound Shore Health System. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close this fall. At that time, Montefiore will begin to provide services at Sound Shore Medical Center, New Rochelle, N.Y., Mount Vernon (N.Y.) Hospital and Schaffer Extended Care Center, New Rochelle. Montefiore said it would ensure healthcare services to residents of New Rochelle, Mount...
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MANHASSET, N.Y.—Only two hospitals have earned the U.S. Green Building Council's highest honor for the entirety of their operations: Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas, Austin; and Kiowa County Memorial Hospital, Greensburg, Kan. But Katz Women's Hospital in Manhasset is getting there one floor at a time. Katz Women's, a 73-bed facility attached to the North Shore-LIJ Health System's 804-bed North Shore University Hospital, had its renovated fourth floor certified LEED platinum as part of the USBGC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, which...
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By this fall, a health system that brings together the operations of Mount Sinai Hospital and Continuum Health Partners could eclipse New York Presbyterian Hospital as the largest provider in the city aside from its public safety net system, New York City Health and Hospitals Corp.
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WINCHESTER, Mass.—Winchester Hospital signed a preliminary agreement to join a larger suburban Boston competitor, Burlington, Mass.-based Lahey Health. The board of the 200-bed hospital had been seeking a potential partner since March 2012. Under a letter of intent with Lahey Health, Winchester would gain representation on the Lahey Health board equal to the organization's other two hospitals, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and Beverly (Mass.) Hospital. Lahey merged with Beverly Hospital's parent, Northeast Health System, last year. Dr. Howard Grant would remain president and...
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A for-profit company that owns three hospitals in New Jersey unveiled a new identity as an integrated health system with plans to offer a Medicaid plan and sell insurance on the state exchange about to launch under the healthcare reform law. In recent years, the Jersey City, N.J.-based company, doing business as Hudson Holdco, acquired 170-bed Bayonne (N.J.) Medical Center, 381-bed Christ Hospital in Jersey City and 204-bed Hoboken (N.J.) University Medical Center.
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BATON ROUGE, La.—Management of two LSU hospitals in north Louisiana is being turned over to a not-for-profit research foundation that has never run a patient-care facility, raising concerns about whether it has the experience and the financing needed to oversee the public hospitals. The privatization of the university-run hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe is in contrast to the approach Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration took in south Louisiana, where nearly all of LSU's facilities are being overseen by companies that run other private hospitals in the area. The Biomedical...
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KINGSPORT, Tenn.—With the help of six employers in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia, Wellmont Health System in Kingsport introduced a free community health initiative known as Wellmont LiveWell. Eastman Chemical Co., Food City, Alpha Natural Resources, Domtar Corp., Electro-Mechanical Corp., and Strongwell are the partners working with Wellmont to provide the online portal focused on a commitment to wellness and healthy living. The website, launched on July 10, allows participants to take a personal health assessment, access a health library and calendar of local health...
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INVERNESS, Fla.—The Citrus County Hospital Board narrowed the bidding for its struggling Citrus Memorial Health System to three for-profit suitors. The board received five proposals from four bidders looking to take over the hospital, which is saddled with $80 million in debt and $30 million in underfunded pension liabilities. Initially, four bidders were vying for the 198-bed hospital: HCA, Nashville; RegionalCare Hospital Partners, Brentwood, Tenn.; Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital; and Health Management Associates, Naples, Fla., which submitted two proposals. The board eliminated...
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NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla.—Health Management Associates is on its way to forging its third deal this year after it was selected to begin negotiations with Bert Fish Medical Center. The public Southeast Volusia Hospital District chose Naples, Fla.-based HMA over Daytona Beach-based Halifax Health. The deal comes after Florida added more oversight of public hospital sales and leases, and also required them to undertake self-evaluations of whether a takeover might be in their best interest. It's also the epilogue of the bungled deal between Bert...
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Georgia's Phoebe Putney Health System, which has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court and back in its quest to buy a rival hospital for $200 million, lost a key legal battle last week when a federal judge imposed what he called an “extraordinary and drastic” restraining order on the union.
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LEADVILLE, Colo.—An affiliation and services agreement has been signed between Centura Health and St. Vincent Hospital, a 12-bed critical-access institution in Leadville, with a 13-bed nursing home unit. The affiliation agreement calls for developing shared programs to complement and expand clinical services, sharing of best practices, and educating and developing staff, according to a news release. “Affiliating with Centura Health allows St. Vincent Hospital to remain locally controlled and responsive to the needs of our community, but gives us access to the resources and...
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ROSEVILLE, Calif.—Adventist Health, a California-based health system with 18 hospitals in four states, plans to seek California's approval for an insurance license before the end of the year. It would be Adventist's first insurance license, though it will be a limited license. An insurance license will better position the health system to take on financial risk for patients' care under new, global payment contracts with private insurers, Medicare and Medicaid that have emerged across the industry and under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, said Jeff Conklin,...
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OAKLAND, Calif.—The Kaiser Foundation Health Plan was fined $4 million by the state of California for failing to correct violations of mental health laws, including publishing materials that wrongly said the organization could deny long-term mental healthcare services to some plan enrollees. The health plan, part of not-for-profit Kaiser Permanente's integrated delivery system, also was accused of violating state law by making some patients wait more than 14 days for an initial mental...
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BILLINGS, Mont.—Not-for-profit Billings Clinic and RegionalCare Hospital Partners, a for-profit hospital company based in Brentwood, Tenn., formed a joint venture that seeks to draw on the operational expertise and financial resources of both organizations. “We don't think it's complicated,” said Dr. Nicholas Wolter, CEO of 263-bed Billings Clinic. “Billings Clinic is going to remain not-for-profit.” Billings Clinic will retain its current governance structure, which he described as a medical foundation model with a 250-physician medical group at its core.
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LOS ANGELES—Roseville, Calif.-based Adventist Health agreed to pay $14.1 million to resolve allegations that it improperly compensated physicians who referred patients to the system's White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles. White Memorial also agreed to enter a five-year corporate integrity agreement with HHS' inspector general's office, the U.S. Justice Department said in a news release. The hospital, the government alleged, transferred medical supplies and other goods to physicians for less than fair-market value and paid physicians inflated rates for teaching services in its...
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