New Orleans Medical centers devastated by Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters remain closed, with the number of beds available to the sick in cut in half. But a house in the city is open for business, dispensing free health care to anyone in need. The clinic is part of healthcare delivery in post-Katrina New Orleans, where clinics have cropped up in corner groceries and old department stores, and Good Samaritans are stepping in to help.
A large group of private-practice doctors and Summa Health System have announced their intention to build a 100-bed, full-service hospital somewhere in northern Summit County, OH. Summa and the Western Reserve Hospital Partners have signed a letter of intent to have a site, an ownership agreement, architectural plans and a builder for the new hospital within six months.
Washington Hospital Center has unveiled new emergency department technologies designed to prepare the downtown Washington, DC, facility for a terrorist attack or other massive disaster. The technologies, which cost about $4.5 million, include negative pressure isolation rooms to prevent the spread of infectious agents and rooms that can be sterilized with vaporized hydrogen peroxide. The products will be studied over time so officials can see how effective they may be in case of a hospital surge.
Dayton (OH) Heart Hospital is planning a $3.5 million expansion that would add at least 26 new beds,according to hospital adminstrators. The 47-bed hospital is also looking into expanding its care beyond heart-related illnesses, administrators added.
In a dramatic move, all unionized employees at Aliquippa (PA) Community Hospital have been fired. The $22.75 million sale of the acute-care hospital to Commonwealth Medical Center was approved Nov. 30 in Beaver County Common Pleas Court, after efforts to recover from bankruptcy faltered and the hospital moved from nonprofit to for-profit status.
After two years of controversy over the withdrawal of two of its member hospitals, Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati CEO Ken Hanover is now seeking a new job. Hanover has been identified as a finalist for a hospital executive job at West Penn Allegheny Health System. Hanover helped bolster profits at the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati after he arrived in 2001, but also became the target of stinging criticism from several member hospitals.