The House has approved a six-month plan to prevent a steep cut in doctors' fees paid by Medicare, agreeing to a short-term solution that Speaker Nancy Pelosi called "totally inadequate" but said the House had decided to adopt after concluding that the Senate was hopelessly gridlocked and could do no better. The $6.4 billion measure reverses a 21% cut in physician payments that had raised the possibility that some doctors might begin to turn away those covered by Medicare. The measure is retroactive to June 1, the New York Times reports.
HCA Inc. said it has a letter of intent to buy a money-losing Catholic nonprofit hospital in Miami, continuing the recent pick up in acquisition activity that involves Nashville area for-profit hospital chains, The Tennessean reports. Buying 473-bed Mercy Hospital would expand HCA's presence in South Florida that includes sites in Kendall and Aventura in Miami-Dade County.
Hundreds of Baltimore healthcare workers — many who say they can't afford care from the hospitals where they're employed — demanded better wages and benefits at a rally Thursday where actor and activist Danny Glover was on hand to back their cause. Some workers came from work, still dressed in scrubs, to tell their stories about juggling bills to make it on small salaries. Many talked about holding side jobs. They were nurse's assistants, laundry workers and those who check in patients and serve them food. The Service Employees International Union staged the rally at Mount Vernon Square to pressure more hospitals and nursing homes to allow their workers to unionize. Less than 10% of Maryland hospital workers belong to unions.
Carolina Medical Center-Lincoln has been working
for the past year and a half to ensure a problem-free transition on July 10 from the old hospital to the new $90 million facility. The reason behind the move is simple, officials said: the population of Lincoln County, NC, has more than doubled since the last hospital was built in 1970, and medical infrastructure standards have since improved. All doctors, nurses, and an estimated 30 to 50 patients from the old hospital will be moving.
Patients will be told when they're being treated by rookie doctors, who would get shorter shifts, and better supervision under proposed work changes for medical residents. The draft regulations aim to promote patient safety and reduce medical errors by enhancing work conditions for sometimes sleep-deprived junior physicians. The proposal slightly revises regulations adopted seven years ago and would have the biggest impact on interns.
Put more medical services in needy communities, emphasize care that keeps people healthy or minimizes illness, develop partnerships with other clinics and hospitals, and become more customer-friendly are the pillars of a new strategic plan for the Cook County Health & Hospitals System to be voted on by its independent governing board. The blueprint then goes before county commissioners in July. The plan seeks to address the public health network's long-standing problems, among them inefficient operations, long waits for care, abysmal financial management, and a poor record of improving the community's health.