Just months after breaking off talks with University Hospitals, Medina General Hospital has agreed to explore the possibility of joining the Cleveland Clinic system. Cleveland Clinic's President and CEO Toby Cosgrove, MD, announced the negotiations in a message to Clinic staff. "I wanted to inform you that Cleveland Clinic has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Medina General Hospital to explore the possibility of the hospital becoming a part of the Cleveland Clinic's health system," Cosgrove said. "The affiliation would maintain the current open medical staff model, where community physicians would continue to have privileges at Medina General Hospital."
Despite recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that all healthcare workers get vaccinated, nearly 60% of healthcare workers fail to get a flu shot. Experts say healthcare workers opt not to get vaccinated for the same reasons others are hesitant, and some also don't realize how easily they can spread the disease. William Schaffner, MD, chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University, argues that getting vaccinated for the flu should be standard for doctors and nurses because the flu virus can be spread so easily.
Koll Development Co. is seeking a zoning change to build a high-rise medical building with retail space across the street from Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. According to filings with the city of Dallas' development services department, Koll wants to build a 12-story, 250,000-square-foot medical office building with parking and ground-floor retail. The zoning request says the building will be used for "general medical and clinical office space and ancillary services such as outpatient surgery and diagnostic imaging centers, medical research, laboratory, and pharmacy space."
A judge has renewed an order banning state officials from making payments under Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's expanded healthcare program, and said it's time for the state to explain how it will comply. In 2007, the state legislature twice turned down the governor's plan to expand healthcare—first for universal coverage, then to expand income-eligibility requirements for state-subsidized care. But Blagojevich began enrolling families anyway, claiming he had sufficient authority. The move prompted a lawsuit by a lawyer and two business-group representatives.
As the presidential candidates push their healthcare plans, Sen. John McCain regularly presses Sen. Barack Obama to tell voters how big a fine he would impose on companies that don't offer their workers health insurance. Obama made a similar charge against former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton. Now Sen. McCain is taking the same tack in demanding that Sen. Obama detail his plans, a point McCain made again at Wednesday's presidential debate.
The global economic crunch is forcing a growing number of Americans to scale back on medical care. Consumers are pushing off seemingly less-urgent services in the hope that their financial health will improve. But the danger is that the short-term savings may translate into more severe long-term health implications, physicians say. Hospitals report that unpaid medical bills are on the rise, pharmacists are seeing a spike in cheaper generics, and demand for low-cost care is climbing.