Jackson Health System reported Monday it is cooperating with police in an investigation of an employee who "apparently inappropriately accessed confidential patient information" of 1,800 people, the system announced in a press release. Jackson said the 1,800 patients have been notified and offered free credit card fraud protection. "JHS took quick action to address this issue and the employee is no longer employed at JHS," the system said in the press release. Theft of patient data has been a recurring theme in the state — sometimes with much larger numbers. In June 2010, AvMed health insurance reported that the data of 1.2 million patients had been on two laptops stolen from its offices. In 2008, data on 2.1 million University of Miami patients was stolen when a box was taken from a parked van.
After a meeting Monday with Sen. David Vitter, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and others, Gov. Bobby Jindal called for the University Medical Center governing board to consider a business model for a new teaching hospital in New Orleans beyond what state authorities and Louisiana State University System administrators have pushed for the past several years. The governor was careful not to endorse any particular model, but said development of a business plan for a "world-class medical education and research facility" should at least include a look at more closely integrating Tulane University's medical enterprise, which is now anchored at Tulane Medical Center, jointly owned by the university and the for-profit Hospital Corporation of America. Yet the governor also insisted that such an effort, which would involve commissioning another outside consultant, not upset the existing timeline of approving a business and financing plan by late summer and beginning construction in earnest in the succeeding months. "I don't think this has to slow anything down," Jindal said.
While Hackensack University Medical Center forges ahead with an application to reopen Pascack Valley Hospital, its opponents say a medical mall with outpatient care would better serve a region they believe already has too many hospital beds. Across the country and in New Jersey, in suburbs and in cities, about 50 medical malls have sprouted up in closed hospitals, bankrupt shopping centers and other sites to deliver healthcare to communities. The advantages of medical malls are one-stop shopping for patients — they provide everything from pediatric checkups to same-day surgery. They also allow physicians to expand their services and hospitals to improve market share by enhancing their outpatient services, experts say.
Five potential buyers were in line to acquire a controlling interest in Bakersfield Heart Hospital as recently as last month, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The North Carolina-based company that owns a 53.3 percent stake in the specialty hospital, MedCath Corp., has put its shares of Bakersfield Heart and at least three other hospitals up for sale as part of its plan to dissolve the company. MedCath, which reported losing $13.5 million in the first three months of this year, has a first mortgage and security interest in the hospital's assets, a May 27 SEC filing states. More than 40 local physicians own the other 46 percent of the hospital.
The parent company of North Adams Regional Hospital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Springfield. Northern Berkshire Healthcare officials say the move is necessary: Six months of intense negotiations with bondholders hasn't yielded an agreement that would restructure and permanently reduce the organization's $43 million in bond debt. NBH's overall debt, which includes capital leases and mortgages, is $49.5 million. Much of the $43 million in bond debt is related to the expansion of North Adams Regional Hospital and the remaining debt associated with the purchase of the Sweet Brook nursing home and the Sweetwood assisted living facility in 1999. Board of Trustees Chairman Dr. Arthur Turton said Chapter 11 will allow the organization to restructure its debt to a more manageable size and emerge from bankruptcy protection proceedings with a more fiscally.
By the time Mike Moore finishes school and starts his career as a doctor, he'll be in his 50s. As a second-year medical student at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, Moore listens to lectures from younger professors and sits with classmates who are old enough to be his kids. Stories about midlife career transitions are mostly about how a stressed out professional quits to pursue a passion like baking cupcakes or opening a cafe. Seldom do they involve a more rigorous route -- like becoming a doctor in your 40s and 50s. Future doctors like Moore who make unlikely career choices are called nontraditional students, and they are increasingly attractive candidates for medical schools. Last year, 9% of the medical school applicants were over age 29, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Those statistics have held steady in the last five years. While 29 isn't exactly midlife, it means by the time students are done with their training, they'll be inching toward their 40s.