New York State awarded a $9.4 million grant to a hospital to run an urgent care center that would treat the minor emergencies of some patients displaced by the closing of St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan. The two-year grant, announced by Gov. David A. Paterson, would help Lenox Hill Hospital set up a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week center on the site of St. Vincent's until a long-term site is found. St. Vincent's, which has been phasing out operations, announced on Monday that it would finally close its emergency room at 8 a.m. on April 30.
Palm Drive Hospital has announced that the person selected by its outside management company less than a month ago as the hospital's new CEO has been withdrawn. Brim Healthcare Unit, the Tennessee-based management company that took over operations at the hospital in August 2009, issued a letter to the hospital saying, "Please accept this letter as a formal withdrawal of Richard Robinson as our CEO candidate for the Palm Drive Hospital CEO position." No explanation was offered in the letter, addressed to the president and board of directors of Palm Drive. "We will continue to work diligently to identify a suitable CEO candidate for your facility in an expeditious manner," the letter said.
Brett Daniel Lee joins Clarian Health as COO for Riley Hospital for Children today. Lee comes to Riley from Children's Medical Center Dallas, where he served as vice president of Operations and Clinical Services. Before that, he was vice president of Operations for Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth, TX.
HealthSouth Corp. has appointed Douglas E. Coltharp as executive vice president/CFO, effective May 6. Since May 2007, Coltharp has been a partner at Arlington Capital Advisors and Arlington Investment Partners, LLC, a boutique investment banking firm and private equity firm. Before that, Coltharp served 11 years as CFO for Saks Incorporated.
Regence, a non-profit health insurer, has named Robert Hatch as President of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah. Hatch's appointment is effective June 1. He replaces long-serving President Scott Ideson, who retires in late summer. Ideson will work with Hatch during the transition.
Richard Parks has been named president/CEO of Covenant Health System. Parks comes to Lubbock from Jackson, TN, where he served as the president/CEO of West Tennessee Healthcare, one of the 10 largest not-for-profit public systems in the country with six hospitals and more than 5,500 employee associates.