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
August 17, 2009 DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—At about 9 a.m. ET on July 14, obstetrician Irwin Landau delivered the last baby at the 42-year-old, 324-bed Florida Hospital-Ormond Memorial in Ormond Beach, Fla. Less than four hours later, Landau delivered the first baby at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center, the $270 million replacement hospital three miles away, hospital spokeswoman Michelle Lynch said. Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center is a 12-story hospital tower that includes 718,000 square feet of space on a 135-acre campus just off Interstate 95, a location that hospital officials said... ... FULL STORY
May 18, 2009 TOWSON, Md.—Three top executives at 332-bed St. Joseph Medical Center resigned as the hospital continues to cooperate with a federal investigation into the financial relationship between the hospital and an unnamed physician group. Beth O’Brien was made interim president and CEO of the hospital effective May 8, hospital spokeswoman Vivienne Stearns-Elliott said. O’Brien has been the acting administrative head of the hospital since Feb. 26 (May 11, p. 17). O’Brien is a senior vice president with St. Joseph’s corporate parent, Catholic Health Initiatives. Stearns-Elliott would not... ... FULL STORY
March 02, 2009 Several hundred residents, emergency medical-service providers and trauma survivors appeared at a rally to support funding for a statewide trauma network in Georgia. The Feb. 23 rally, dubbed Trauma Day, was the latest in a series of efforts by advocates to bolster emergency spending in Georgia. ... FULL STORY
February 02, 2009 RICHMOND, Texas—OakBend Medical Center said that the CMS decided to award it a full Medicare inpatient update for fiscal 2009 after initially denying the funds because of problems with its quality data. OakBend, like more than 60 other hospitals, was told by the CMS that it would not receive 2% of its inpatient Medicare reimbursement because of problems with the data. A story in Modern Healthcare’s Jan. 26 issue (p. 6) estimated that 127-bed OakBend would have lost about $332,350, while all the hospitals initially denied a full update together would lose out on an estimated $5 million. ... FULL STORY
January 12, 2009 ATLANTA—The Georgia Community Health Department launched a new Web site to help residents make informed healthcare decisions. The site, georgiahealthinfo.gov, provides information about quality and cost of care and health education. Users can access cost and quality comparison data for hospitals and common outpatient procedures, costs of prescription drugs and quality rankings for health insurance plans. Consumers also can use a mapping function to obtain directions to hospitals, pharmacies and outpatient centers. In addition, the Web site provides access to health education content... ... FULL STORY
December 22, 2008 VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.—Not-for-profit health systems Bon Secours Richmond (Va.) Health System, and Sentara Healthcare, Norfolk, Va., agreed to collaborate on a 200-bed hospital project and other hospital-related services on their respective outpatient campuses in Virginia Beach, according to a statement released early this month. ... FULL STORY
By Jessica Zigmond December 01, 2008 Without state funding and a commitment to keep its current residency program intact, the struggling for-profit Oklahoma State University Medical Center is at risk of closure, according to Tulsa-area healthcare providers and government officials. ... FULL STORY
December 01, 2008 CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Carolinas HealthCare System said it agreed to sell 15 medical office buildings in the Charlotte area to Healthcare Realty Trust, Nashville, for $162 million. Carolinas hopes to close the deal by year-end, said Greg Gombar, executive vice president and chief financial officer. The not-for-profit system will continue to own the land underneath the medical office buildings, with Healthcare Realty Trust holding long-term leases for the land, Gombar said. Carolinas has developed its medical office buildings over the years with the intent of selling them, he said. The system... ... FULL STORY
