A $100 million financing deal between Boston-based hospital chain Caritas Christi Health Care and Ascension Health of St. Louis is on hold, leaving Caritas without needed capital. At the same time, Caritas Christi plans to lay off about 160 workers—1.2% of it workforce of 13,000—to cut expenses. The two moves make a financial turnaround for the Archdiocese of Boston's six-hospital chain more challenging for chief executive Ralph de la Torre.
The death of an 89-year-old woman on the roof of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Montefiore is prompting several investigations, and the hospital could face fines, a change in its accreditation status, and a lawsuit from the woman's family. Pittsburgh police, the state Health Department, and the hospital itself will examine how the woman, who suffered from dementia and heart problems, was able to wander unnoticed from her 12th-floor room and go to the roof. Her body was found there by a maintenance worker. Within 45 days, UPMC is expected to issue a report and action plan to The Joint Commission.
Washington Adventist Hospital got the green light from Montgomery County, MD, to move its Takoma Park hospital six miles away to White Oak. The new 48-acre campus is in the heart of the hospital's primary service area and has major interconnecting roads that make it more accessible to patients in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, officials said.
An Allegheny County, PA, judge set a deadline of December 5 for University of Pittsburgh Medical Center to pay a settlement to a former secretary who sued Magee-Womens Hospital for wrongful termination and a violation of the state's Whistleblower Law. Donna Kovacs and UPMC reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount in November as the trial was beginning. But the two sides have been squabbling since then about provisions in the settlement.
Louisiana State University has announced that it probably will close its Baton Rouge charity hospital in favor of a partnership with an existing hospital. LSU's decision comes after years of efforts to acquire land for a new hospital that would replace the deteriorating Earl K. Long Medical Center. Instead, indigent patients in the area will be served by a new outpatient clinic scheduled to open next year. Patients requiring hospitalization will be admitted to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center.
Nashville General Hospital, the city's safety-net hospital, is making progress on most of the issues cited in a performance audit nearly four years ago, a draft of a new audit says. The review by Metro's Office of Internal Audit follows up on an audit released in February 2005 that found Nashville General Hospital had incurred a $48 million cash deficit by borrowing money from other Metro funds, and there was no plan in place to repay those monies. The hospital, which treats many patients with little or no insurance, also showed comparable expenses but lower revenues than other public hospitals. But the facility has made good strides since then in addressing the concerns, the new draft says.
The federal government has approved sending more than $775 million a year over the next five years to Illinois hospitals and other medical providers to help care for Medicaid patients. Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced that the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved the five-year deal with the state.
The Illinois attorney general's office has announced it has reached a tentative settlement with one of two Champaign County clinics that allegedly denied primary care to new patients covered by Medicaid. The medical clinics agreed to funnel Medicaid patients to expensive emergency rooms for primary care to increase their own payments from the state, Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office said in the antitrust lawsuit. Under the agreement, Carle Clinic Association of Urbana would increase its Medicaid patients by 2,000 to 11,850 over the next three years, Madigan said in a news release.
Tenet Healthcare Corp. has lost two-thirds of its value since posting disappointing financial results and lowering its outlook in November. Wall Street remains concerned that Tenet's high debt levels, a deteriorating economy, delays in key asset sales, high supply costs, and declining commercial volumes are slowing the company's turnaround progress. Tenet has nearly $4.8 billion in long-term debt, with $1 billion maturing in three years and no other notes maturing before then.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle, who is slated to oversee healthcare policy in the Obama administration, is kicking off the effort to pass a comprehensive healthcare plan during a speech in Denver Dec. 5. Daschle's comments will be the first public discussion by the Obama team on healthcare since Election Day. He will emphasize that changes to the healthcare system must include expanding insurance coverage, as well as reducing costs and improving quality.
