Miami Jewish Health Systems has named Lisa Jo Desmarteau as its CFO. She previously served as CFO for Joseph L. Morse Geriatric Center, a not-for-profit, non-sectarian, 280-bed long-term care facility in Palm Beach County, FL. In her new role, Desmarteau will oversee financial planning, fiscal policy, budgeting, and financial reporting for the nonprofit healthcare organization.
Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center has announced that Kevin W. Donovan of New London, NH, has been selected as the new CEO. Currently, Donovan is the senior vice president of Clinical Operations at Elliot Health System in Manchester, NH. Donovan will replace current CEO Richard Slusky, who is retiring in September.
James R. Davis has assumed the position of University Health Care System president/CEO, succeeding J. Larry Read who announced his retirement in late March after 11 years in the position. Davis joined University in January 2009 as executive vice president/COO. He came to University from St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, OH, a 550-bed tertiary care hospital and part of the three-hospital Humility of Mary Health Partners system.
President Obama and his allies, concerned about deep skepticism over his landmark healthcare overhaul, are orchestrating a campaign to sell the public on the law, the New York Times reports. The campaign includes a new tax-exempt group that will spend millions of dollars on advertising to respond to attacks on the measure and Democrats who voted for it. This week, President Obama travels to Wheaton, MD, to conduct a nationally televised question-and-answer session with older citizens to trumpet a $250 rebate checks to help Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drugs.
A growing number of doctors across the country are boosting revenue by asking patients to pay new fees for services they say insurance doesn't cover, insurance and physicians' groups say. The extra payments include no-show fees of $30-$50 for missed appointments, widely varying charges for filling out health forms for school, work or athletic teams, and annual administrative fees of $35-$120 or more to simply be a patient in some practices, medical associations and doctors told USA Today.
Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell has signed into law a $362 million plan to expand and renovate the University of Connecticut's John Dempsey Hospital and build a network for area hospitals to collaborate on teaching and research efforts. Under the plan, Dempsey—considered too small and outdated to be financially viable—will get a new patient tower, while the existing space will be renovated. Dempsey will get more profitable beds and the medical school is expected to add more students.