Amerinet renews agreement with Medical Action Industries
St. Louis-based Amerinet Inc. and Medical Action Industries of Hauppauge, N.Y., renewed their agreement for trays and procedure kits. The contract, effective immediately, includes laceration trays, central line trays, suture removal kits, IV start kits, general purpose trays, debridement trays and custom tray requests.
Ascension may sell St. Joseph Hospital
St. Louis-based Ascension Health has engaged in talks with Health Management Associates Inc. of Naples, Fla., to sell 107-bed St. Joseph Hospital in Augusta, Ga. The system had announced in June 2005 that it wanted to sell, downsize or close the facility, which is struggling financially. Ascension hopes to complete the sale by the end of the year.
Ascension to leave Consorta, negotiating with Broadlane
Ascension Health informed Consorta, located in Schaumburg, Ill., that it will not renew its purchasing contract with the GPO when its current agreement ends on Sept. 30, 2006. The system signed a letter of intent to negotiate a purchasing agreement with San Francisco-based Broadlane Inc. Both parties hope to reach an agreement to cover purchasing for all of Ascension’s supplies as soon as possible.
CARITAS Health Services to merge with Jewish Hospital HealthCare
On Nov. 1, 2005, CARITAS Health Services of Louisville, Ky., will merge with Jewish Hospital HealthCare Services, also of Louisville. The new system will be named Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare, and will operate all JHHS-owned and Caritas-owned facilities. The agreement does not include facilities managed by JHHS or the JHHS Four Courts Senior Center. CARITAS’ parent, Catholic Health Initiatives in Denver, will own 25 percent of the merged system and JHHS will own the remaining 75 percent. Bob Shircliff, president of JHHS, will be the CEO of the new system. On Dec. 1, 2005 CARITAS Medical Center in Louisville will be renamed Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital, and CARITAS Peace Center, also in Louisville, will be renamed Our Lady of Peace.
Cleveland Clinic employs Anodyne Therapy System
Cleveland Clinic Health System installed the Anodyne Therapy System from Tampa Fla-based Anodyne Therapy, LLC in its home health agency, wound care, and Wooster Podiatry and Physical Therapy clinics. Cleveland Clinic has been using the Anodyne Therapy System on an evaluation basis since April 2005 with its advanced wound care protocols and physical therapy interventions to increase circulation for wound healing, pain reduction and balance improvements.
Clarian Health may partner with Arnett HealthSystem
Indianapolis-based Clarian Health Partners and Arnett HealthSystem, located in Lafayette, Ind., are discussing a potential collaboration and partnership. Clarian has affiliations and partnerships with hospitals across the state, and opened Clarian West Medical Center in Avon in 2004. Clarian North Medical Center in Carmel will open in December 2005. Arnett includes the 150-physician Arnett Clinic and Lafayette-based Arnett Health Plans. In 2004 Arnett Clinic dropped a plan to build a 140-bed hospital near I-65. Details were not disclosed about any possible partnership.
Deaconess Health names three execs
Deaconess Health System in Evansville, Ind., promoted Shawn McCoy to VP of system integration for Deaconess Health and COO for Deaconess Hospital, also in Evansville. He previously served as VP of operations for the hospital. Harry L. Smith Jr. was named president and CEO of Deaconess Hospital. He was formerly president and senior administrative officer for Sisters of Charity Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y. Deaconess also named Wallace (Randy) Simmons as CEO of Newburgh, Ind.-based Deaconess Gateway Hospital, which is opening in January 2006. Simmons has served as CEO at Crawford Memorial Hospital in Robinson, Ill. since 1999.
Floyd Medical Center wins 2005 VHA Leadership Award
Rome, Ga.-based Floyd Medical Center was selected as one of 13 hospitals in the United States to receive the 2005 VHA Leadership Award for supply chain management improvement. The award recognizes process improvement efforts to facilitate better use of Floyd’s Omnicell automated dispensing system in surgery. As a result, lost charges for surgical supplies declined from $2.5 million annually to $73,400 and revenue increased by $2.6 million. Floyd also made changes in process and troubleshooting for better use of employee time and a reduction in complaints about the system from 10 per month to zero.
Highmark, UPMC partner to verify insurance coverage
Highmark Inc. and UPMC, both located in Pittsburgh are collaborating on a private computer network to verify insurance coverage. UPMC’s 18 hospitals were connected in Q1 2005 and 1,950 UPMC physicians began using the network in fall 2004. The network allows insurance verifications to be completed in seconds, whereas manual verifications can take as long as 15 minutes. The cost of developing and implementing the link are expected to be recovered within the first year of operation, and it is expected to save several million dollars annually in verification costs.
Jackson Health posts FY 2004 loss
Miami, Fla.-based Jackson Health System posted a $120 million loss in FY 2004, $65 million of which was attributed to a five-year period of overstating accounts receivable. JHS has hired Deloitte Consulting to overhaul its business operations and practices. These financial troubles resulted in Moody’s lowering the system’s bond ratings to ÒBaaÓ with a negative outlook. JHS has a total of $166.4 million in three bond series.
OSU’s cancer program receives $19M NCI grant
Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital & Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio received a $19.2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) after it received an ÒoutstandingÓ score during a review to renew its ÒcomprehensiveÓ designation. OSU will use the grant, which will be spread over five years, for work in its early detection, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programs.
OSU Hospital East first to install SOMATOM Emotion 16 CT system
Columbus-based Ohio State Univ. Hospital East became the first hospital in the United States to install the SOMATOM Emotion 16 computed tomography (CT) system from Siemens Medical Solutions of Malvern. The system has 16-slice technology and a comprehensive set of clinical applications that enables community hospitals and diagnostic imaging centers to benefit from high-level CT imaging. The air-cooled system combines a gantry rotation speed of up to 0.5 seconds and 16-slice 0.6 sub-millimeter imaging technology. It has a minimal space requirement of less than 200 square feet, making it a good solution for hospitals with limited budgets or space considerations.
