Parkland hospital adds Rick Perry aide as a new VP

Parkland Memorial Hospital has hired a high-level aide to Gov. Rick Perry as its government relations vice president, three months before the 2013 legislative session begins. Katherine L. Yoder, 36, a Perry health-care policy and budget adviser, replaces the Dallas hospital's longtime top lobbyist, Jennifer Cutrer. Parkland said in a written statement late last week that Cutrer had retired, but it did not elaborate. Yoder's hire comes as Texas, led by its Health and Human Services Commission, overhauls its Medicaid program. The overhaul has caused uneasiness among some hospitals because it will impact how they are paid for treating indigent patients.