Because there are no pediatric specialty hospitals in North Pinellas County, FL, parents have long had to drive to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg for specialized pediatric care. Now Morton Plant Mease Health Care hopes to fill the gap by forming a partnership with St. Joseph's Children's Hospital of Tampa. Through the alliance, parents and children will have better access to the high-tech medical care offered at St. Joseph's, officials said.
A new ePharmacy serving Kansas City-based St. Luke's Health System's growing Lee's Summit campus and several other area facilities is intended to boost patient safety and save money. The virtual pharmacy makes a pharmacist available at nights and on weekends to some of St. Luke's most remote locations. Two pharmacists staff the ePharmacy, which is at the Summit Technology Center in Lee's Summit. They serve St. Luke's East-Lee's Summit; St. Luke's Northland in Kansas City, North, and Smithville; Crittenton Children's Center in Kansas City; Hedrick Medical Center in Chillicothe; and Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton, MO.
The parent corporation of New Orleans Children's Hospital is acquiring Touro Infirmary, unveiling the deal by promising to spend $100 million on capital improvements during the next five years at the hospital which has struggled financially since Hurricane Katrina. Executives pitched the relationship as a way to solidify Touro's place in the New Orleans region's evolving healthcare system since Hurricane Katrina. It will allow the two hospitals, they said, to build on their history of collaboration and their similarities, including the natural bridge from Touro's prenatal care, labor, and delivery focus to Children's wide-ranging pediatric services.
Layoffs are spiking as the recession rips through the country, with retailers, banks, factories, and others cutting costs ever deeper. The latest round of pink slips and cost-cutting measures came on the heels of tens of thousands of layoffs ordered by a slew of companies last week alone.
The government is poised to extend health coverage to 4 million more lower-income children, a first step in President Barack Obama's promise to shrink the ranks of the uninsured. The House was expected to approve the expansion of a children's health insurance program and deliver it to Obama for his quick signature. The bill has already passed the Senate. Over the next four years, up to 13 million children could be covered under the program.
Seattle-based Swedish Medical Center said it will lay off 200 of its roughly 7,000 employees in a bid to cut operating costs.
"Given a tough fourth quarter and the economic head winds we've had, we recognized we needed to do a thorough restructuring," said Chief Executive Rod Hochman. "We are tax-exempt, but we need to remain competitive, with a margin to build buildings." Positions being eliminated include four vice presidents, 22 directors, and an unspecified number of managers and support staff, including nonpracticing medical managers.