Orange County (CA) Board of Supervisors Chairman John Moorlach sought to withhold nearly $54,000 in funding from the Orange County Medical Assn. because it recently filed a request seeking records from CalOptima, the county's version of the statewide MediCal program. Fellow supervisors balked at his request, saying it was antagonistic and amounted to retaliation. The funding measure ultimately passed with the doctors' funding intact. The money was part of the Medical Services Initiative, a $70-million program administered by Orange County that contracts with private medical service providers to care for the poor.
About four million uninsured adults in Florida could soon receive coverage under the governor's "Cover Florida," a proposal by nine companies to offer low-cost healthcare plans. The health plans, which would cover preventative, primary, and urgent care, would ultimately cost members $150 a month.
More physicians are apologizing for medical errors, thanks to a growing national patient safety movement. Although it was rare in the past, several groups are beginning to urge hospitals and doctors to say they're sorry when mistakes happen.
Northeastern Pennsylvania nonprofit Wyoming Valley Health Care System has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to sell to Franklin, TN-based Community Health Systems Inc. The Wyoming Valley Health Care System has 3,200 employees, and its properties include Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.
Deutsche Bank analyst Darren Lehrich recently raised eyebrows by mentioning the possibility that hospital operator HCA Inc. might expand its psychiatric care offerings soon. Lehrich said he had word that Nashville-based HCA was assembling a team to develop a larger portfolio in that niche. There are concerns, however, including that HCA's plans will increase competition for smaller acquisitions of behavioral health hospitals or for personnel, thus driving up costs for competitors.
Nashville-based Southern Hills Medical Center says it will stop delivering babies at the end of August after a group of doctors who handled the service resigned. After Sept. 1, the four-physician Genesis Women's Care plans to consolidate its practice to deliver only at StoneCrest Medical Center in Smyrna, TN. Southern Hills delivers about 600 babies a year compared with more than 7,000 deliveries annually at Nashville market leader Baptist Hospital.