In this posting from the New York Times, Princeton Prof. Uwe E. Reinhardt provides a window into public perception of how hospitals work. He also breaks down how hospitals get paid and why: For example, private plans or payers tend to be billed more that government payers, he notes.
Rebecca Simmons has been named Gulf Breeze Hospital human resources manager. Simmons will oversee employment practices at the hospital, Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine and Baptist Medical Park-Navarre. Simmons returns to Baptist Health Care after serving for three years as administrator of a local skilled nursing facility.
Paul Peiffer has been named COO of the 110-bed River Oaks Hospital. Peiffer has over 27 years of healthcare experience, serving most recently as COO at Gilmore Memorial Regional Medical Center in Amory, MS. Peiffer has been with HMA, River Oaks Hospital's parent company, for eight years.
Vic Buzachero, senior vice president of human resources of Scripps Health based in San Diego, was recently elected board chairman of AHA Solutions, a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association. AHA Solutions serves as a resource to U.S. hospitals pursuing operational excellence by conducting product due diligence and identifying solutions to hospital challenges in the areas of finance, human resources, patient flow, and technology. AHA Solutions collaborates with hospital leaders and market consultants to provide analytics and education to support product decision making of AHA-member hospitals and other healthcare organizations.
Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers has named Arthur Y. Webb as COO of the Manhattan-based healthcare system. In his new position, Webb will have operational responsibility for the system's flagship St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan, St. Vincent's Hospital Westchester, a behavioral health hospital in Westchester County, and continuing care services that include two skilled nursing facilities in Brooklyn, another on Staten Island, a hospice, and a home health agency serving the metropolitan New York area. Saint Vincent's behavioral health services also provide supportive housing programs for people with mental illness throughout the metropolitan area.
Several hospitals in the Chicago area have extended substantial price breaks automatically to anyone without medical coverage. Rush University Medical Center, for instance, will reduce hospital bills by 50% for any uninsured patient, regardless of their income or assets. Loyola University Medical Center lowers bills by 40%.
No hospital in California lost more pediatric beds in recent years than Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. The downsizing began more than two years ago as hospital officials prepared for their move into a new state-of-the-art facility with only two-thirds of the space of the old campus. Officials with the county Department of Health Services said they believe the cuts in children's beds will be offset by a shift from inpatient to outpatient care, making it possible to maintain the same level of service. But front-line pediatricians strongly dispute that pediatric care will not suffer.
In Connecticut, the health sector added 4,100 new jobs in 2008, for a total of 240,000, according to a report released by the state Department of Labor. The picture is similar across the nation. While manufacturing and transportation industries shed more than 1.6 million jobs last year, and retailers slashed more than a half-million, the healthcare sector added 372,000 new jobs. The healthcare industry's expansion is being fueled by the nation's aging population, as the nation's 79 million baby boomers reach retirement age.
Cleveland Clinic has announced Andrew Fishleder, MD's appointment as chief executive officer of Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Fishleder will head up the Clinic's first overseas outpost as part of its plan to extend the Clinic's brand. The deal with the government-owned Mubadala Development Co. was announced in 2006. Mubadala will pay for construction costs, equipping the hospital and staff salaries. The Clinic has no capital risk, but instead will transfer its culture, its standards, and its model of healthcare.
Nine out of 10 companies have put cost-cutting strategies in place in hopes of weathering the recession gripping the U.S. economy, according to a survey from the Chicago-based job placement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Companies say that because of creative tactics to save money they have been able to avoid making layoffs. Cost-cutting measures included cancelations of holiday parties, salary freezes, cuts in workers' hours, reductions in or the elimination of year-end bonuses and cutbacks in various perks.
