A Florida anesthesiologist has been arrested, accused of threatening former co-workers at Morton Plant Hospital and breaking windows at medical centers in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. Benjamin Sanchez, MD, showed up at the anesthesiology building at Morton Plant and threatened the employees, according to Clearwater police spokeswoman. Court records suggest that Sanchez has disagreed with his co-workers before.
Tom Daschle's former Democratic colleagues were rallying to his defense after he met behind closed doors with the Senate Finance Committee to discuss problems with back taxes and potential conflicts of interest, but lawmakers promised he will face more questions. Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader, is President Barack Obama's nominee to oversee the Health and Human Services Department.
For the third year in a row, Miami-based Leon Medical Centers Health Plans made a huge marketing push during the Super Bowl—rubbing elbows with the nation's advertising biggies. For viewers, the seamless transition between commercials made it seem that Leon was a nationwide marketer, but in fact it was purchasing local spots at much less than the $3 million for 30 seconds that the big boys were paying. ''It gets that buzz going,'' said Leon spokesman Rebecca Larger. ''It gets the phones ringing. It does not necessarily reach our demographic''—senior citizens on Medicare—''but it definitely targets the children, the sandwich generation, the decision-makers for the seniors'' about which Medicare health-maintenance organization is right for their parents.
There are doctors who still make house calls because it's in the best interest of the patient, not their bottom line, who say a prayer with a distraught family, who give their own blood to a sick child. But some medical ethicists warn against practicing medicine too empathetically or becoming too involved in patients' lives, saying it compromises treatment and the profession as a whole. Others argue personalized care will become extinct if physicians are not able to set aside the business of doctoring and resurrect the art of medicine.
Gene Winters has been named the new CFO at Haywood Regional Medical Center. Winters has served as CFO at three national healthcare chains over the past 15 years, including Regency Hospital Co., Acadia Healthcare, and Transitional Hospital Corp. He also helped to develop Summit Medical Management.
David Cecero will leave his position as adviser to the JPS Health Network board on Feb. 1, just days before a vote is taken on his successor as CEO of the taxpayer-supported hospital system. Cecero, 54, announced in April that he was retiring and would become an adviser to the board from October 2008 to July 2009. The board, however, removed him as CEO and named an interim replacement in late May. Cecero continued as an adviser and helped select an executive search firm to find his replacement.