California's labor battle over who will represent tens of thousands of hospital workers will be determined in voting booths around the state. The National Union of Healthcare Workers, formed last week by the ousted leaders of United Healthcare Workers West, has asked state officials to conduct elections at 64 healthcare facilities where it says a majority of employees currently represented by Oakland-based UHW want to join the new group.
After months of quiet planning for a new academic medical complex in New Orleans, the temperature is rising between Louisiana State University System officials and opponents of the school's proposed site. LSU leaders say they are reacting to what they say is misinformation and cheap shots by preservationists and other opponents of the proposed complex. Walter Gallas, the New Orleans field director for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said LSU officials have earned the criticism, and he said the university is to blame for any rhetorical escalation.
Harvard Medical School plans to strengthen its conflict-of-interest rules for doctors and researchers. The move comes amid a U.S. Senate investigation into several faculty members and a new state law that will make public some of the payments doctors receive from pharmaceutical and medical-device companies. Many top medical schools have adopted stricter policies in the past two years. Last year, the American Medical Student Association graded Harvard with an F on its conflict-of-interest policy because it does not address issues like whether companies can provide gifts and meals for faculty.
A consumer group seeking Medicare billing records to help grade doctors on quality said it's not giving up despite a reversal from a federal appeals court. The case is being closely watched as an important battle in the effort to reshape the nation's healthcare system. Consumer advocates, employers, and insurers argue that access to Medicare claims filed by doctors' offices could help independent groups monitor quality and ferret out waste. But doctors are worried that such disclosures would violate their privacy, and that ratings could portray some physician's offices inaccurately.
Access Carroll is a medical nonprofit organization that offers free healthcare to residents in Carroll County, MD, with low incomes and no health insurance. The number of patients treated by Access Carroll more than doubled between 2006 and 2008, when more than 2,300 patients were seen in 5,700 visits. And with the economy projected to continue its downward spiral this year, organizations such as Access Carroll will be in greater demand, said Tammy Black, executive director of Access Carroll.
A Florida anesthesiologist has been arrested, accused of threatening former co-workers at Morton Plant Hospital and breaking windows at medical centers in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. Benjamin Sanchez, MD, showed up at the anesthesiology building at Morton Plant and threatened the employees, according to Clearwater police spokeswoman. Court records suggest that Sanchez has disagreed with his co-workers before.