Mayo Clinic announced it raised $1.35 billion in its first sustained philanthropy campaign. Mayo raised the amount in five years instead of the seven years initially set for the campaign, and exceeded its target of $1.25 billion. A portion of the money will fund research on cancer and depression. Some funds will go toward a subspecialty pediatric clinic in Rochester, a new hospital in Florida, and a new campus for cancer and transplant patients in Arizona.
Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland has named Carol L. Brosgart, MD, as the hospital's new CMO/senior vice president. Brosgart is a widely regarded public health physician with expertise in the areas of HIV/AIDS, chronic viral hepatitis B and C, seasonal and pandemic influenza, and healthcare policy. She joins Children's Hospital Oakland after retiring from biotech pioneer Gilead Sciences in July 2009.
Congressional Democrats faced only unpalatable options for salvaging their healthcare overhaul after Republicans clinched the additional Senate vote they need to thwart the legislation, which had some Democrats suggesting they abandon the health effort, the Wall Street Journal reports. House Democrats signaled their most feasible alternative after Republican Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts was to pass the Senate version of the bill and later put through additional modifications that require fewer votes to clear the Senate, the Journal reports.
A task force of Florida agencies announced that it recovered $287 million in Medicaid overpayments and prevented more than $18.9 million in improper payments in the fiscal year that ended in June. The task force consists of the Florida Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Agency for Health Care Administration's Medicaid Program Integrity.