The program to train cardiologists at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center has been stripped of its national accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The decision marks the first time a residency or fellowship program at the facility has lost accreditation. The council faulted the program for "insufficient teaching time by the faculty." County-USC hopes to fix the problems and have the 21-year-old cardiology program recertified before June 30, 2009, when the accreditation is to be withdrawn.
Pamela Stephenson, CEO of the Atlanta-based Grady Memorial Hospital, is defending her two-year, $1.2 million contract. She says the contract is fair and valid, not a sweetheart deal done in secret as some officials have characterized it. Stephenson addressed her critics at a news conference, where about 30 of her supporters cheered her and stood to speak in her favor. Stephenson said she is in talks about the contract with the hospital's new board, which expects to replace her as CEO within weeks. The state of those negotiations is in dispute, but Stephenson said the talks were going "very well."
Beaumont Hospitals has received final approval from the Michigan Department of Community Health to develop the state's first proton cancer therapy center. The $159-million facility will be built on the health system's Royal Oak campus, with operations beginning in 2010. The two-story, 40,000-square-foot facility requires a building nearly as large as a football field to house a nuclear cyclotron that makes the proton particles used in the treatment.
It will be a partnership with Bloomington, IN-based ProCure Treatment Centers Inc., and other hospitals and investors may share equity partnerships in the arrangement.
Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy returned to the Capitol to help the Senate pass legislation that would rescind a 10.6% cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients. The White House has threatened to veto the measure because of provisions that would reduce payments to private insurers who participate in Medicare Advantage. Some doctors have stopped taking new Medicare patients until the issue is resolved, saying the reductions would make treating the elderly impossible from a financial standpoint.
Gifts that drug makers have long showered on doctors will be banned from pharmaceutical marketing campaigns under new voluntary guidelines titled the "Code on Interactions with Health Care Professionals." The guidelines will ask the chief executives of large drug makers to certify in writing that "they have policies and procedures in place to foster compliance with the code." The code, however, provides no definite limits on the millions of dollars spent on speaking and consulting arrangements that drug makers have forged with doctors. The code was written by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Mt. Lebanon, PA-based St. Clair Hospital is teaming with Cura Hospitality in planning sweeping changes not only in menus but also in the entire approach to shopping for, cooking, and serving meals. Renovations are under way at the hospital that will allow for restaurant-quality takeout food for the staff, a "salads-by-design" bar, and grab-and-go fresh foods that can be ordered via a touch-screen device. A long-term goal for the hospital includes room service dining for patients, which would provide even wider menu choices.