The gap between the proliferating use of use of remedies such as herbals and the limited knowledge about their effects is a big part of the current debate about alternative medicine. But because alternative treatments are increasingly part of personal health choices, some doctors are taking steps to bridge the knowledge gap.
The interim chief executive officer of the former Aliquippa (PA) Community Hospital described mass employee firings earlier this month as "gut-wrenching" but said it was a cost-cutting move crucial to the debt-burdened facility's survival. The CEO added that there are an average of only 25 to 27 inpatients each day in the 96-bed facility, which has been renamed Commonwealth Medical Center.
St. Luke's Episcopal Health System and affiliate Kelsey-Seybold will soon open an emergency center and medical clinic in northwest Harris County, TX. The initial phase of the 40-acre project will be open in late spring, and the health system also hopes to build a community hospital on the site. The projects will advance St. Luke's strategy of expanding into Houston's suburban areas.
St. Anthony's Medical Center in St. Louis is proposing to no longer directly employ its emergency room physicians--a move that has left some of those doctors unhappy and looking for work elsewhere. St. Anthony's hopes the transition will help its ER doctors work more efficiently and cohesively, and ultimately shorten emergency room wait times for patients. The hospital expects a final plan will be in place in the next few months.
Workers represented by Teamsters Local 926 have voted to approve a three-year contract proposal from Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pittsburgh. The agreement averts a potential strike. The union represents about 550 hospital workers such as housekeepers, maintenance and other service employees. In a statement, the medical center said it was pleased employees had approved the contract.
The Nemours Foundation has signed an agreement to buy 60 acres to put its children's hospital in the southeast Orlando "medical city" that eventually will include the University of Central Florida's College of Medicine, the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and a VA hospital. The 60 acres will give Nemours enough room to build a 550,000-square-foot hospital and clinic, with plenty of room left for a planned Ronald McDonald House and additional research space, say Nemours representatives.