Part of an agreement between Mubadala Development Company and Siemens Healthcare developed last year, construction of a new medical molecular imaging center at the Tawam Hospital in Al Ain is now underway. The Tawam Molecular Imaging Centre, scheduled to be completed in 2009, is expected to improve diagnostic imaging in the region and contribute to more efficient treatment for patients with cancer as well as cardiovascular and neurological diseases.
The University of Chicago has signed an affiliation agreement with Evanston Northwestern Healthcare to educate and train future doctors at Evanston's three hospitals. Evanston Northwestern ended its 78-year-old relationship with Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in June. Following a one-year transition that began July 1, residents and students from the training programs of the University of Chicago's Pritzker School of Medicine will begin to train at Evanston Northwestern facilities that include hospitals in Evanston, Highland Park and Glenview in July 2009.
Managers have known for months that a number of workers at Los Angeles County medical facilities have criminal records, but they took little or no action, Los Angeles County Chief Executive Officer William T Fujioka has announced. Fujioka said the information was discovered after the county ordered fingerprints from all 1,600 employees working at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor hospital when it closed inpatient services nearly a year ago. The California Department of Justice returned with information that some employees had previously undisclosed criminal histories, but the county's Human Resources Department did not take appropriate disciplinary action against them, Fujioka said.
More doctors, particularly women, are now choosing to work part time, and some health providers are accommodating them. The percentage of physicians practicing on a part-time basis rose from 13% in 2005 to 19% in 2007, according to the 2007 Physician Retention Survey released by Cejka Search and the American Medical Group Association. Though working part time adds balance to a physician's high-stress lifestyle, some experts say that these work-hour decreases are worrisome due to the nationwide shortage of doctors.
Hundreds of service workers at the University of California's 10 campuses and five hospitals began a five-day strike in a dispute over wages. University officials reported "minimal impact" from the walkout, however. Campus shuttles were idled at UC Berkeley and cafeteria hours were curtailed at UC Irvine, but patient care was not affected at any of the university's five medical centers, said UC officials.
Only half of U.S. men and women older than 50 are getting screened for colorectal cancer, according to a report. However, the current rate of screening is an improvement from the 43% who received the tests in 2000, the researchers noted. Insurance coverage may be part of the problem: Only 24% of people lacking health insurance had colorectal cancer screening compared with more than 50% of insured Americans.