Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino is planning a task force to tackle an issue that has long bedeviled a city rich with nonprofit universities and hospitals: how to wring more money out of revered institutions that are exempt from property taxes. The task force will attempt to negotiate ways of increasing their payments in lieu of taxes, which the institutions voluntarily pay to varying degrees. It will examine not only the payments but also services provided by the universities and hospitals to the city and its residents, such as scholarships, internships, jobs, and other benefits.
Clayton County, GA's only hospital could close if it doesn't get $40 million to pay off creditors by the end of the year. Leaders of Southern Regional Health System have implored the county commission to back a $40 million bond. The money is needed to refinance existing hospital debt, hospital chief executive officer Edward Bonn said. "If we don't get this approval by the end of December, chances are bonds will be called and we will be in default," chairman of the hospital board Ron Dodson told the commission. "We're already in default. Our hospital will be closed down."
Aurora Health Care will buy an interest in Associated Surgical & Medical Specialists, an outpatient surgery center in Franklin, WI, owned by about 80 doctors. The purchase price of the deal, scheduled to close Jan. 1, was not disclosed. The deal strengthens the ties between Aurora and the specialists who own the surgical center, and it also could ensure that the specialists continue to receive referrals from primary-care physicians who work for Aurora.
St. Charles Parish Hospital in Louisiana is seeking voter approval to borrow $11.5 million to refinance existing bonds and build a 10,000-square-foot emergency room. Federico Martinez, the hospital's administrator, has said the emergency room at the 59-bed hospital has six times the traffic per bed as the national average, and that many patients leave without being seen. The national average for emergency-room traffic is 2,000 annual visits per bed. The St. Charles hospital gets 12,000 visits, he said.
Medicare has accepted Louisville, KY-based Baptist Hospital East's plan to correct problems cited in connection with a patient's hanging death, a step toward keeping Medicare funds flowing to the hospital. Medicare notified Baptist East on Nov. 28 that it would stop reimbursing the hospital for inpatient care unless conditions that "pose an immediate and serious threat" to patients were corrected. Baptist East gave Medicare a plan to change procedures for patients who are suicide risks, and Medicare informed Baptist East that the plan is acceptable. A final decision will depend on a check by state inspectors.
Rising healthcare premiums are making U.S. workers less willing to choose plans with higher up-front costs, according a survey by consulting firm Watson Wyatt. A survey of large company employees shows that workers are significantly less willing to pay higher premiums to keep out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles and copays lower in 2008 compared with 2007. Only 19% of employees surveyed in 2008 were willing to opt for higher premiums, compared with 38% last year.
Hospitals throughout Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati increased total employment 12% from 2002 to 2007, to 51,802 workers. As a group, they still have about 2,500 jobs available.
The statistics are part of an annual economic impact of $13.9 billion a year from the region's 31 hospitals, according to a study by University of Cincinnati economists. The impact has jumped more than $1 billion a year since 2002, according to the study.
Florida ranks dead last in a national report card rating access to emergency care, according to a study released by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Access to emergency care was one of five criteria the national physicians group used to evaluate emergency care. Other measures were quality and patient safety, medical liability environment, public health and injury prevention, and disaster preparedness.
To weather the current economic storm, companies must take a step back and assess their core business and brand for continued relevance. It's healthy for a company to step away from its business and conduct a strategic, situational analysis, and this article in MarketingProfs suggests imagining a "toolbox" that can help your firm both assess and reposition your brand now and for the future.
As Gen Y enters the professional world, they bring a whole new set of rules, says this blog post by a member of said generation. "We're often criticized for our restless job-jumping or our sense of entitlement. The truth is, we might play the game differently, but that doesn't mean we're not every bit as bright, innovative, and hardworking," she says.
