Doctors are expanding hours to accommodate the demands of busy, informed patients, as well as combat competition from retail health clinics popping up in drugstores such as Walgreens and CVS. "Given the choice, most patients who have a regular physician would prefer to see them on extended hours than go elsewhere for treatment," said Doug Henley, chief executive officer with the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Marshfield Clinic, which employs nearly 800 physicians in north-central Wisconsin, is one of 10 nationwide participating in a Medicare project that rewards doctors for providing efficient, quality care. But economists, policy analysts, and doctors contend that the incentives built into the system are one reason that healthcare costs in the United States are roughly 50% higher than other developed countries.
Durham County, NC, and Duke University are talking about a deal to indefinitely extend Duke's lease on Durham Regional Hospital. If the deal is done, Duke's present 20-year lease would be extended to 40 years. As long as the lease is in effect, Duke would also make annual payments to Emergency Medical Services and Lincoln Community Health Center, adjusted each year to rise with the Consumer Price Index.
Newborns needing intensive care can have private rooms when an expansion at Children's Hospital Central California is complete in November. The 21 rooms that will be the first in the state designed to offer newborns a peaceful environment free of noise from other babies and the traffic from healthcare professionals from shared wards. Nurses will be able to monitor a baby's condition by computer.
A group of 16 staff members from the Nashville-based Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt recently took their skills to Guatemala City, Guatemala, where they performed surgeries on children with facial birth defects or head, face or neck growths. The trip, hosted by the Shalom Foundation, a nonprofit that provides financial support and physical assistance for underprivileged children and their families, is the fourth for staff members from the Nashville hospital. Now, the hospital and the Shalom Foundation are looking for ways to provide a stable medical environment for the children of Guatemala.
Nashville-based Vanderbilt University Medical Center has moved a step closer to expanding the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital, buying out the owners of a neighboring fast-food restaurant. The transactions will give the medical center the land it needs to build a $244 million expansion. The project will nearly double the hospital's capacity by adding 200 new beds, 16 labor and delivery rooms, 13 obstetric and pediatric operating rooms and 48 antepartum and postpartum rooms.