Polls show voters worry a lot about healthcare and how much they spend on it. But neither candidate has focused publicly on treating the real problem: why Americans pay significantly more for medical care than anyone else in the industrialized world yet we trail several other nations in healthcare quality, access, and efficiency.
A $57.5 million expansion at Jordan Hospital in Plymouth, MA, in 2006, followed by drop-off in admissions has forced the CEO to cut to the bone. Admissions are off about 9% from last year, and revenue had returned to 2005 levels. To cut costs, the hospital has eliminated the equivalent of 45 full-time jobs, or about 3% of the staff, about half by attrition.
The crisis on Wall Street is affecting many New York hospitals whose boards and donor lists include some of the financial executives from the investment banking industry. New York-Presbyterian Hospital's board, for example, includes executives from Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and AIG.
An annual "report card" by the Maryland Health Care Commission ranks Kaiser Permanente and Mid Atlantic Medical Services Inc. the highest of managed-care insurers. The report aims to guide consumers through the region's numerous insurers, offering rankings on breast cancer screening, diabetes care, and the quality of other services.
San Francisco voters will head to the polls in November to decide whether to use a new state bond to fund construction and remodeling of children's hospitals. This would authorize $980 million in bonds that would be repaid from California's general fund. It would allow for expansion of the hospitals as well as improvement of existing facilities and purchasing of new medical equipment.
Clarian Health in Fishers, IN, said last week that pending a few more town council votes, its $180 million hospital construction project should be open to the public by the fall of 2010. The project also includes future plans to develop a $750 million medical campus nearby.