Florida's First District Court of Appeal has turned down an appeal by Central Florida Regional Hospital, clearing the way Health Management Associates to construct a hospital in Oviedo, FL. HMA is still looking for land on which to build its 60-bed hospital, which is expected to operate in partnership with Orlando Regional Healthcare System.
SSM Health Care-St. Louis has announced a $59 million capital improvement plan, most of which will be targeted at St. Joseph Health Center and St. Mary's Health Center. System representatives called the plan "a major step to improve patient care, enhance services and reinforce competitive strength."
The vast majority of North Carolina's 3,000 or so emergency room patients examined for sexual assaults each year shoulder some of the cost of a rape kit test, according to state records and victim advocates. An analysis of records and interviews with hospital officials and administrators at several of North Carolina's major insurers suggest that charging the patients is a widespread practice. For those without insurance, hospitals send the bills to the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, which has a modest fund to help.
A unique fundraising initiative has children at Duke Children's Hospital & Health Center in Durham, NC, entertained and happy this Valentine's Day. TAP Interactive, an interactive media marketing and promotional division of Themis Group in Durham, took a fresh approach to a Valentine's Day themed fundraising event. The event, called A Gamer's Valentine, auctioned interesting dates (like a private tour for four of the Big Boss Brewing Company, two scooter rentals for a day, or two tickets to the Carolina Hurricanes and a pre-game ride on the Olympia ice machines) with five men and five women gamers from local game development and production companies. All proceeds benefit Duke Children's.
By advertising the event on a Facebook event page and accepting new or gently used video games and video game systems donations as well, the event appealed to a young and motivated demographic. "We work in a young industry and the concept, along with the collection of games and consoles, appeals to a young audience. Even outside of the young techie audience [though], most people receive information about business and social events online. It's one of the best ways to raise awareness," says Meghan Murphy, Account Manager for TAP Interactive.
Overall, $10,000 in donations and gaming equipment was raised and, according to Karen McClure, Director of Children's Miracle Network Services at Duke Children's, the children love the games and game systems they were given. "The response [from the children] was terrific, and the Child Life staff is so excited to have new games to share with the kids and replacements for some of the most popular equipment that has begun to wear out--like the Guitar Hero [guitars]," says McClure.
After the event, the TAP Interactive group was also able to tour the facility. "I think everyone in the group was impressed by Duke Children's Hospital and happy we could see first hand who was benefiting from the event," says Murphy. "I would do this again in a heartbeat and we have already begun planning next year's event."
Kandace McLaughlin is an editor with HealthLeaders magazine. Send her Campaign Spotlight ideas at kmclaughlin@healthleadersmedia.com If you are a marketer submitting a campaign on behalf of your facility or client, please ensure you have permission before doing so.
The British government has made a big commitment to promoting the benefits of weight loss, the centerpiece of which is a three-year advertising campaign. Disagreements over the scope of the campaign, however, have been clouding the effort.
Although the Writers Guild strike is now over, television networks can expect to have lost some viewers to computers. A new poll shows that since the strike began, many people have spent much more time on the Internet.