Florida lawmakers consider PPE stockpile plan
In March, lawmakers in Florida were considering setting up a stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) that it would then make available for sale to healthcare practitioners during declared emergencies, according to CBS Miami.
Despite some concern from one lawmaker who cautioned the measure could turn a “government agency into an Amazon,” the House Pandemics & Public Emergencies Committee on Tuesday unanimously approved its version of the proposal (HB 1353), sponsored by Rep. Clay Yarborough.
To ensure the state has enough respirators, gloves, gowns and masks to cover the potential need, the Division of Emergency Management would be required to complete an inventory of equipment “held in reserve” and procure additional equipment or arrange by contract for it to be sold to practitioners or their employers at cost.
Committee member Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, noted that the state Division of Emergency Management has provided PPE free of charge during the COVID-19 pandemic to healthcare practitioners and asked whether there would be a policy switch to require providers to pay for the equipment.
Yarborough said that the bill’s intent “is not to restrict it to where it can only be purchased, especially to other groups that aren’t healthcare providers.” However, concerns remain that the change would be a burdensome task for the government while also making it more difficult for smaller providers to access needed equipment during a crisis.
NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital opens new ambulatory care facility
NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital opened the Center for Community Health, a new, six-story, 400,000-square-foot ambulatory care center.
The new facility, located at the NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital campus on 6th Street between 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue in Park Slope, is the first major ambulatory care facility built in Brooklyn in 40 years, the hospital said.
The Center for Community Health offers a wide range of ambulatory care services, including oncology, digestive, and endoscopy services, as well as an infusion center, ambulatory surgery, diagnostic imaging center, and more.
Multidisciplinary teams of physicians from Weill Cornell Medicine work together to consider each patient holistically, whether they are being treated for digestive diseases, cardiovascular issues, cancer, or other conditions, or coming for outpatient surgery, interventional radiology, or diagnostic imaging.
GHX adds Steve Jackson as GM, Exchange Services to advance the clinically integrated supply chain
Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) (Louisville, CO) welcomed Steve Jackson in the role of General Manager, Exchange Services.
In this capacity, Jackson will focus on co-designing solutions with providers and suppliers that lower the total cost of care and improve patient outcomes. Leveraging GHX’s extensive reach, Jackson will be responsible for advancing the healthcare industry’s adoption of a clinically integrated supply chain that enables greater precision and personalization of care.
Jackson joins GHX from National Research Corporation (NRC), an industry-leading voice of customer platform leveraged by more than 75% of the top 200 U.S. health systems. As president of NRC, the company’s customer NPS and employee satisfaction scores more than doubled and its market capitalization grew from $330 million to more than $1.4 billion