Holy Cross Hospital's announcement that it hopes to build a hospital in Germantown, MD, is just the latest example of a baby boomer-fueled building frenzy sweeping the healthcare industry in Maryland's Montgomery County. Over the past several years, all five of Montgomery's major medical centers have decided to expand, upgrade their facilities or build new ones. What's happening in the county mirrors a national trend, fueled by concerns that aging baby boomers will put new demands on the healthcare system and that old hospital buildings can no longer accommodate changing and complex medical technologies, experts say.
ProHealth Care has announced that it plans to spend $75 million to $90 million to build a hospital in Mukwonago, WI, continuing the hospital building boom in the Milwaukee area. Construction is expected to begin in 2009 and take 18 to 24 months. ProHealth representatives said the planned hospital will expand the services available in Mukwonago and the surrounding area while defending the health system's dominant position in Waukesha County. The new hospital also would be a less costly alternative to expanding Waukesha Memorial Hospital, they added.
Daniel D. Ricciardi, MD, a board member of New York City's Health and Hospitals Corporation, has resigned after the agency began an inquiry into his role in securing a 10-year, $100 million contract for a Caribbean medical school where he has long had a paid position. Ricciardi was criticized by officials of New York-based medical schools for his role in securing the contract for the city's 11 public hospitals to provide clinical training to students from St. George's University School of Medicine in Grenada.
In spring 2007, hospital company Pacific Health Corp. agreed to purchase the nonprofit, 223-bed Anaheim (CA) Memorial Medical Center for $57.1 million. But the sale of a nonprofit hospital to a for-profit company must be approved by the state attorney general, and the purchase has run into opposition. At a public hearing, opponents of Pacific Health's purchase of Memorial contended that Pacific Health should not be expanding at a time when its current hospitals have been hit with so much criticism from regulators over the last year. Pacific Health's problems grew this week, as it was named in a civil lawsuit filed by Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo. He contended that the company was part of a scheme "to defraud the Medi-Cal and Medicare programs."
Raleigh, NC-based Rex Healthcare has received permission from state regulators to build a new, three-story outpatient care center across from its main campus. The center will have almost 130,000 square feet of space for outpatient services, and a separate building will have 85,000 square feet for medical offices. Rex officials told state regulators that the building was needed to reduce congestion on the main campus. Among the services Rex will move are: eight existing operating rooms and four existing procedure rooms, most of its diagnostic imaging facilities and one MRI scanner, and rehab services, including physical, occupational and speech therapy.
Florida is facing an explosion in its number of elderly Hispanic residents, raising concerns about the strain on a healthcare system that is not prepared to handle their unique needs. In 1995, U.S. census officials said Florida would face a 102% increase in Hispanics age 65 and older by 2010. By 2007, the Hispanic elderly population had already increased by 124% to 530,000 people, or 12.5% of the senior population. Nurses and doctors who speak Spanish are sorely needed, but the language barrier isn't the only concern. Sometimes there are cultural differences that can affect a patient's care, experts say.