The federal government spent millions of dollars mailing a brochure to 40.2 million Medicare beneficiaries describing how the recent healthcare overhaul "will provide you and your family greater savings and increased quality healthcare." The Obama administration said the mailing is an effort to inform the public about the effects of the legislation. But Republican lawmakers call it misleading propaganda and an illegal use of taxpayer funds. Senior Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee have asked the Government Accountability Office to assess the issue, the Washington Post reports.
The chief executive of Minnesota-based Allina Hospitals and Clinics is voluntarily working without pay until the hospital chain reaches an agreement with its nurses. After Minneapolis-St. Paul nurses voted overwhelmingly to authorize a one-day strike last week, Ken Paulus sent an e-mail to all Allina employees saying he had asked his board to suspend his pay as a way to "align our leadership with you." There are currently contentious contract negotiations underway between 14 Twin Cities hospitals and their 12,000 nurses. Allina owns five of the 14 hospitals involved in the talks, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
The University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora will break ground early next year on a $400 million expansion that the hospital's board approved last month. The project includes a 12-story tower that will house 144 additional beds, a four-story critical-care wing containing a new emergency department, extra operating space and a cardiac and vascular center; and a six-story parking garage. Officials also plan to renovate the hospital's Anschutz Inpatient Pavilion and critical-care area as part of the project, the Denver Business Journal reports.
Erie, PA-based Hamot Health Foundation will decide by the end of the month whether to begin exclusive talks with UPMC about an affiliation agreement, according to John Malone, president and CEO. The foundation runs Hamot Medical Center and has been in discussions with Cleveland Clinic, UPMC, and other health centers since 2008 over the issue of affiliation. What the affiliation agreement will look like hasn't been decided, but Malone said it could range between a merger to expanding clinical cooperation between the two institutions.
Culminating an election battle, about 700 workers at USC University Hospital in Los Angeles are scheduled to vote on whether to join a new union in a campaign that has highlighted a deep rift in the labor movement. The workers casting ballots will face two choices: forgo union representation or affiliate with the National Union of Healthcare Workers. The healthcare workers union is challenging the dominance of the giant Service Employees International Union at hospitals and nursing homes throughout California, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Last week, members of the Minnesota Nurses Association voted overwhelmingly to reject labor and pension contracts from 14 hospitals, setting the stage for a one-day strike. Both sides have publicly declared they would like to return to the negotiating table to stave off the strike. But five days after Twin Cities nurses voted to authorize a strike, there's been little movement on either side, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.