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
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 of Pennsylvania said the 2009-10 budget, signed by Gov. Ed Rendell earlier this month, scaled back $280 million in proposed cuts to state and federal hospital revenue for trauma and burn centers, academic medical centers, critical-access hospitals, medical education, community access and... ... FULL STORY
September 21, 2009 ALBANY, N.Y.—New York Gov. David Paterson last week signed into law a bill that forces hospitals to publicly report nurse-patient staffing data along with information on patient outcomes. Officials with the New York State Nurses Association said the data could someday lay the groundwork for a nurse-patient-ratio staffing law similar to the one in California, which mandates hospitals maintain specific ratios of direct caregivers and patients. New York nurses' union spokeswoman Nancy Webber said the state already has a law on the books requiring hospitals to provide... ... FULL STORY
August 31, 2009 NEW YORK—Montefiore Medical Center and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University agreed to extend an affiliation in place since 1968 by 10 years. Under the agreement, 1,094-bed Montefiore will be responsible for the oversight of residency programs while Albert Einstein will have oversight of National Institutes of Health-funded clinical and translational research, said Brian Currie, vice president and medical director for research at Montefiore and assistant dean for clinical research at the medical college. “We're playing to each others'... ... FULL STORY
May 18, 2009 TUNKHANNOCK, Pa.—Tyler Memorial Hospital and the Northeast region of Mercy Health Partners, Scranton, Pa., said last month that they have agreed on a memorandum of understanding in order to investigate a deal between them. The not-for-profits expect to spend 90 to 120 days in due diligence before deciding whether to collaborate and in what form. Mercy, which is part of Cincinnati-based Catholic Healthcare Partners, operates 230-bed Mercy Hospital of Scranton and 68-bed Mercy Special Care Hospital, Nanticoke, Pa. Scranton is about 25 miles away from 58-bed Tyler Memorial. Denise Gieski,... ... FULL STORY
March 02, 2009 ALBANY, N.Y.—A new comparative analysis of 19 states shows that New York’s Medicaid program spends the most on long-term healthcare, but delivers only average or slightly above average quality. The study was conducted by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, a nonpartisan Albany-based think tank, for the New York State Health Department with funding from the New York State Health Foundation. According to the report, New York and Maine had the highest rates of Medicaid spending in 2003—5.3%—which was calculated as a percentage of the gross state product. The spending... ... FULL STORY
October 26, 2009 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Health Management Associates, Naples, Fla., and Novant Health, Winston-Salem, earlier this month said that they have restructured their joint venture over seven hospitals in the Carolinas. Last year, HMA sold a 27% interest in the hospitals to Novant for $300 million. In the restructuring agreement, HMA received Novant's 27% interest in four of the hospitals, while Novant received an operating contract that gives the not-for-profit system a 99% interest in two of the hospitals, according to a securities filing by HMA. At 103-bed Lake Norman Regional Medical... ... 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. Charlie Crist, a Republican. In her resignation letter to Crist, Benson wrote that after meeting with the governor this week to discuss her future plans, it was clear that she needed to resign in order to pursue those opportunities. The speculation has been that Benson would run for the Republican... ... FULL STORY
September 21, 2009 CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—The University of North Carolina Health Care System, Chapel Hill, conducted a grand opening for its North Carolina Cancer Hospital and medical office building on Sept. 15. The 315,000-square-foot hospital cost $178 million to build. It includes 50 inpatient beds, 72 infusion stations, three linear accelerators and 101 exam rooms. The 105,000-square-foot medical office building cost $29 million. Services began at the complex last month. The facilities are part of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. ... FULL STORY
August 31, 2009 AUSTIN, Texas—St. David's HealthCare completed construction on its new, $89 million St. David's Women's Center of Texas in late spring. Three stories high, the 221,568-square-foot facility includes 29 labor-and-delivery rooms, five Cesarean-section surgical suites, a Breast Cancer Resource Center, diagnostic imaging, physicians' offices and a reflection garden. It is connected by a sky bridge to the second floor of 228-bed St. David's North Austin Medical Center, where there are renovated postpartum rooms and an expanded Level III neonatal intensive-care unit. Donald Wilkerson,... ... FULL STORY
By Vince Galloro August 17, 2009 BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The city of Irondale, Ala., sued Community Health Systems, Franklin, Tenn., and a real estate developer over Community's decision to relocate a hospital replacement project from Irondale to the former “digital hospital” site that HealthSouth Corp. was developing before its accounting fraud scandal in 2003. ... FULL STORY
October 26, 2009 SPOKANE, Wash.—Community Health Systems, Franklin, Tenn., signed a nonbinding letter of intent to form an integrated healthcare delivery system in Spokane with Rockwood Clinic, a 133-physician multispecialty clinic based in Spokane, the clinic said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Rockwood has 32 clinical sites throughout eastern Washington and Idaho. Community entered the Spokane market last year with its $148 million purchase of two-hospital Empire Health Services. Rockwood Clinic would become a subsidiary of the integrated system, but would retain its brand name,... ... 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 years. Management at the 181-bed hospital told the New York ratings agency that financial statements for fiscal 2009 and the previous two years, would not be available until January 2010, said Ken Gacka, a Standard & Poor’s analyst. The lack of information prompted the agency to temporarily suspend... ... FULL STORY
September 21, 2009 TORRINGTON, Wyo.—Banner Health said it admitted residents this summer to the Alzheimer's care unit at its Goshen Care Center in Torrington. Proposed about five years ago, the new $4.3 million wing can accommodate up to 28 patients with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. According to Banner, it follows the Eden Alternative model of care, which emphasizes family and a homelike atmosphere. The unit is attached to the 75-bed Goshen Care Center, which is divided into three halls with 25 residents in each. Fully staffed with registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified... ... FULL STORY
August 31, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO—San Franciscans participating in the city's unique health access program report high levels of satisfaction, though a quarter said they delayed or skipped care because of cost or coverage issues, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report. Healthy San Francisco, launched in 2006, offers uninsured adult residents access to care on a sliding scale through participating city clinics and hospitals. As of August, more than 45,000 people were enrolled. The program is funded by city dollars, premiums and employer contributions. Some 94% of enrollees said they are... ... FULL STORY
August 17, 2009 SAN FRANCISCO—A new campus of UCSF Medical Center is getting a helipad, the city board of supervisors has agreed unanimously. UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay, scheduled to open in 2014, will be a state-of-the-art 289-bed, 869,000-square-foot complex for children, women and cancer patients located in the eastern part of the city. The first phase of the project will cost about $1.6 billion. The helipad will bring critically ill newborns, children and pregnant women to UCSF from outlying community hospitals. The hospital estimates that 500 helicopter trips will occur each year,... ... FULL STORY
