A bipartisan group of senators reported progress toward agreement on a compromise healthcare overhaul while the House speaker suggested that any House vote on a health plan would be delayed until more was known of the Senate approach. Meanwhile, members of the Senate Finance Committee, who have been engaged in the delicate talks, said they had moved ahead on how to pay for the health plan and fleshed out alternatives to requiring employers to provide health insurance, which has been a sticking point with many Republicans and business owners.
The fate of the healthcare overhaul largely rests on the shoulders of six senators who since June 17 have gathered—often twice a day, and for many hours at a stretch—in the office of the Senate Finance Committee chairman, Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana. President Obama and Congressional leaders agree that if a bipartisan deal can be forged on healthcare, it will emerge from this conference room and will bring a more centrist approach to reform.
Managers of the California Board of Registered Nursing are seeking permission to triple the size of their enforcement staff and immediately boost licensing fees to act more quickly against errant nurses who potentially pose a danger to patients. These and other actions were recommended to state officials in response to a newspaper investigation that reportedly found that it takes the nursing board more than three years on average to act on complaints of sometimes egregious misconduct.
Massachusetts legislators have submitted more than 70 bills that would substantially expand the medical services that insurers are required to cover for patients. But the mandates could also raise healthcare costs. Some of the mandates before the state Legislature are hearing aids for children, cleft palate surgeries, and wigs for people who lose their hair during cancer treatments and other illnesses. New mandates could raise the cost of state-subsidized insurance and increase premiums for private employers and their workers, although it's not yet clear by how much.
Texas Health Resources Inc., the largest hospital system in North Texas, has formed a temp agency with Arlington-based Medfinders, Inc. to oversee the staffing of all per-diem nurses for Texas Health's 14 hospitals across North Texas. By having an in-house agency, Texas Health says it's better able to fill its 5% nurse vacancy rate and avoid costly overtime by paying temporary nurses to cover shifts of full-time nurses.
The Hartford Courant reports that the Nutmeg State's hospitals and nursing homes have eliminated 1,800 jobs since March. It's the first time the sector has shed jobs in a decade and it comes as the economy appears to be stabilizing.
Recently hired CFO James Hughey will leave Mammoth Hospital on July 31 to go to work at the San Mateo Medical Center. Hughey has worked at Mammoth Hospital just over three months. Mammoth Hospital Administrator Gary Boyd says Hughey told him that small town life had a "bigger impact on him than he thought it would." At a recent employees' meeting, Hughey had also spoken candidly about the chronic deficit at the 17-bed, critical-access hospital.
Kenneth C. Donahey takes over as COO at Hendersonville Medical Center this week. Former COO Brian Cook was recently promoted to CEO at Parkridge East Hospital in Chattanooga. Donahey comes to Hendersonville, a 110-bed community hospital owned by TriStar Health System, after serving as associate administrator and ethics and compliance officer at Chattanooga's Parkridge Medical Center for the last four years.
The Board of Trustees of the Illinois Hospital Association has selected Maryjane A. Wurth as the new president of IHA. Wurth succeeds Ken Robbins, who has served as IHA president since 1983 and will retire later this year. Wurth, 53, currently the COO at the Healthcare Association of New York State, will assume her duties at IHA in October.
Cleveland Clinic promoted two executives to integrate medical care and operations. Marc Harrison, MD, has been named CMO, and William "Bill" Peacock III has been named COO. Their objective is to improve efficiencies, reduce expenses and coordinate efforts to enhance the clinic's overall operations and medical delivery system. In their new roles, Harrison will provide clinical oversight to operational decisions made throughout Cleveland Clinic and Peacock will oversee all of the Clinic's facilities and services.
