A lawsuit testing the constitutionality of Illinois' medical malpractice reforms is expected to come before the state's Supreme Court this fall. State Sen. Bill Haine was one of the leaders in a long bipartisan effort to draft the legislation, which was approved after dozens of doctors retired or relocated due to spiraling malpractice insurance premiums. The state law shaped by Haine and other legislators was enacted in 2005. It limits medical malpractice awards for noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering to $500,000 for doctors and $1 million for hospitals. The law does not, however, limit compensation for economic damages, such as the cost of medical care and lost wages.
In 2007, New Orleans and Louisiana leaders pulled together a plan to commandeer land in a historic but struggling neighborhood on the edge of the Central Business District and offer it to the federal government as a place to build a veterans hospital. But the people who stand to be displaced have pressed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to consider other locations that would not require the demolition of traditional shotgun houses and other historic landmarks. Two senior VA officials have now reiterated the agency's preference for building in downtown New Orleans, where veterans would benefit from proximity to the planned Louisiana State University teaching hospital and the city's two medical schools, which would regularly send faculty and residents to help treat the VA's patients.
The Tulane Community Health Center, a new primary medical care center for adults and geriatric patients, will open soon in eastern New Orleans. The center will have six examination rooms and will be staffed by a doctor, a licensed nurse practitioner, and supporting office workers. The clinic is expected to handle 500 patient visits every month.
Three contenders for 41 new hospital beds in Wake County, NC, announced they were filing plans to build new facilities. Novant Health announced that it wanted to build a $110 million community hospital in Holly Springs. WakeMed has filed plans for a $34 million, 61-bed women's hospital on its North Raleigh campus. Rex Healthcare, the third contender, submitted a request for beds to be added on its Raleigh campus.
Forsyth County, GA, is evolving into a regional healthcare hub, with an expanding campus of Northside Hospital in Cumming and access to an Emory hospital in nearby Johns Creek. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta also zeroed in on Forsyth County this summer as it plunked down $17 million for property in the county. Healthcare now appears to be the fastest-growing industry in this rural-turned-wealthy suburban county, and its growth has closely tracked the county's population boom.
Connecticut's nursing shortage could reach crisis proportions if more education programs and funds are not made available, according to healthcare advocates. The advocates attribute the problem, in part, to a shortage of instructors and the limited number of spots available in existing nursing programs statewide for people who want to enroll. Several nurses, instructors, and others in the field are now awaiting word on whether a proposed $185,000 federal grant will be approved for the Connecticut State University System's nursing programs to help offset the shortage.