The program to train cardiologists at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center has been stripped of its national accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The decision marks the first time a residency or fellowship program at the facility has lost accreditation. The council faulted the program for "insufficient teaching time by the faculty." County-USC hopes to fix the problems and have the 21-year-old cardiology program recertified before June 30, 2009, when the accreditation is to be withdrawn.
Pamela Stephenson, CEO of the Atlanta-based Grady Memorial Hospital, is defending her two-year, $1.2 million contract. She says the contract is fair and valid, not a sweetheart deal done in secret as some officials have characterized it. Stephenson addressed her critics at a news conference, where about 30 of her supporters cheered her and stood to speak in her favor. Stephenson said she is in talks about the contract with the hospital's new board, which expects to replace her as CEO within weeks. The state of those negotiations is in dispute, but Stephenson said the talks were going "very well."
A one-year contract agreement announced between Philadelphia and the Fraternal Order of Police signals that Mayor Michael A. Nutter has set his sights on reforming healthcare for all four municipal unions. The contract gives cops a 3.5% raise and reduces healthcare costs by 10%, and will set up a healthcare evaluation committee with representation from the FOP and the city.
United Technologies Corp., a Hartford, CT-based conglomerate, has donated $1 million to a new cancer hospital being built in New Haven to expand Yale's medical services. Construction on the 112-bed Smilow Cancer Hospital is expected to be completed in 2009.
U.S. News & World Report had compiled its annual list of "America's Best Hospitals." For the rankings, U.S. News analyzed data on 5,453 medical centers. Only 170 hospitals were ranked in one or more specialties and, of those, just 19 were of Honor Roll caliber. To be in this group, a hospital had to achieve high scores in six or more specialties.
The House and Senate reached agreement on a policy framework for legislation that would require employers and health insurers to put mental-health coverage on par with medical and surgical benefits. That coverage would include treatments such as hospital stays and doctor visits, and cost-sharing such as co-payments, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses. If a plan offers medical coverage for treatment outside of its provider network, it must do so in mental health, as well.