The new Fort Worth's Paul and Judy Andrews Women's Hospital is devoted to women's healthcare, and features a Starbucks, spa and motherhood shops. The 190,000-square-foot facility is an addition to Baylor All Saints Medical Center. The hospital is funded and supported largely by the contributions from the community, and aims to serve women from childbearing age through menopause and beyond.
Testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, two Bush administration Cabinet members acknowledged gaps in the capability of U.S. hospitals to deal with a mass-casualty terrorist attack or other disaster. They added, however, that a congressional effort to block pending Medicaid cuts will not fix the problem. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said lawmakers could instead target funds more directly, such as by financing the stockpiling of hospital beds, ventilator units or medicines, if needed.
The city of Birmingham will provide $20 million in incentives for a project to expand Children's Hospital. Hospital officials say the $450 million project is the single largest healthcare expansion in the state, creating as many as 500 hospital jobs. The incentive plan involves rebating some of the occupational taxes generated by the expansion for the next 20 years, up to $20 million. The new hospital should open in about four years, said hospital CEO Mike Warren.
Tarrant County, TX, commissioners have expressed concern over questions raised by a series of Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports about the JPS Health Network. Commissioners were careful to praise the medical and administrative staff of the taxpayer-supported John Peter Smith Hospital, but promised to press the hospital's leadership on finance and patient care issues at a coming meeting. Commissioner Marti VanRavenswaay, who represents southeast Tarrant County, said she has asked mayors in her precinct to invite residents to meet with her to discuss their complaints and concerns regarding JPS.