A $1.75 million surgical robot bought with taxpayer money is collecting dust at an Arlington, TX, hospital because too few doctors at the public hospital district know how to use the state-of-the art equipment. The one physician most proficient at using the da Vinci robot left the JPS Health Network in January. The equipment allows surgeons to perform procedures using incisions only about the diameter of an ink pen.
Dozens of community health centers around in Pennsylvania and its surrounding region got a boost when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced $338 million in stimulus grants nationally to clinics that care for large numbers of uninsured patients. In Pennsylvania, the department said, 36 organizations will share $9.5 million, giving them the capacity to provide care for nearly 60,000 new patients, including 20,000 uninsured.
Nashville's Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center will get more than $700,000 in federal stimulus funds to offer more community health services, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced. The medical and dental facility got the largest single share of a $6.5 million pot of stimulus money released for community health centers in Tennessee.
Two critically ill infants who died earlier this month in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Miami Children's Hospital succumbed to infections from an extremely common bacteria found on many humans, health administrators said. The two infants were infected with strains of the Pseudomonas bacteria, which is widespread throughout nature, found in water, soil, plants, and animals. The three children were infected by three different strains of the bacteria, said a senior physician with the Miami-Dade Health Department.
Providence Health Care is planning to trim staff at its Eastern Washington hospitals, but says it hopes to avoid layoffs. The move is being prompted in part by a growing amount of unpaid medical bills as a result of the recession. In a memo to staff, the chief executive of Providence's regional operations said the nonprofit healthcare system is $9 million behind its budget.
A 6% Medicaid payment cut is among the difficult options that the Georgia General Assembly is weighing to fill a financial hole in the Medicaid program, which covers more than 1 million poor and disabled Georgians. Across Georgia, medical professionals are calculating potential damage if cuts are approved. "Devastating" is a word commonly used.
The University of Chicago Medical Center violated federal law by not providing a medical screening exam to a 78-year-old man who died last month in its emergency room, federal health officials say. The Feb. 3 death of the man led to violations of the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Such violations, if not corrected to the agency's satisfaction, could lead to a loss of federal funding from the Medicare health insurance program.
The past few weeks have been difficult for Franciscan Hospital for Children's chief executive officer Paul DellaRocco. First, he asked all of the Massachusetts-based hospital's employees to take a pay cut of 2% to 3%. Then he delivered another blow, laying off 40 people. Franciscan has operated largely in the shadow of larger institutions like Boston Children's Hospital or the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts. Located in Brighton, the small hospital is now operating with $16 million less in funding this year due to state budget cuts.
The American College of Cardiology is launching a new initiative to reduce the number of patients who are readmitted to hospitals within 30 days of being discharged for congestive heart failure or a heart attack. The effort is part of the society's broader plan to encourage its membership to rein in unnecessary tests and procedures and improve the quality of their care as President Barack Obama makes healthcare overhaul a top priority.
The stimulus package includes $1.1 billion in funding for so-called comparative-effectiveness research aimed at determining which treatment works best for a given medical condition. Now the NIH has published a list of high-priority projects it wants to fund, providing a clearer picture of just how that money may be spent. The list suggests scrutiny for some of the best-selling drugs for heart conditions and asthma, among others.
