Industry leaders launch Healthcare Transparency Initiative (HTI)
Several leading healthcare companies and providers – including BD Healthcare Solutions, Trinity Health, and University of Vermont Health Network, as well as Resilinc announced the launch of the Healthcare Transparency Initiative (HTI). HTI is a unique cross-industry collaboration focused exclusively on leveraging data with artificial intelligence (AI) and data science to improve supply chain transparency, lower risks and reduce disruptions in healthcare supply chains in order to improve patient outcomes. HTI will immediately drive lower costs by creating a shared ecosystem and improving visibility and transparency across the healthcare value chain, leveraging AI and data science. The initiative is powered by Resilinc’s trusted platform and healthcare supply chain data, which offers unique transparency and insights for the industry today.
Beaumont Health, Henry Ford Health System both seek new hospitals in Oxford
Beaumont Health (Royal Oak, MI) and Henry Ford Health System (Detroit, MI) have both submitted plans to construct new hospitals in Oxford, MI. Beaumont wants to build a $140 million, 117-bed hospital; and Henry Ford plans a 116-bed, $160 million hospital. Only one hospital will be approved because the Michigan Certificate of Need Commission determined that Oxford is a “limited access area” that needs only an additional 117 hospital beds to meet local residents’ healthcare needs.
IL governor signs bill to add funding for critical access hospitals
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed SB 1469 to strengthen critical access hospitals in rural communities. The bill will provide $55 million in funding for critical access hospitals throughout the state. It will allow them to hire more doctors and nurses, expand treatments and services, and provide additional care, the governor said. “Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Your income or your ZIP code should never dictate your access to that right,” the governor said during a visit to Ferrell Hospital (Eldorado, IL). “Critical access hospitals are on the front lines of our work to provide quality healthcare in all of our communities.”
UPMC breaks ground on new UPMC Vision and Rehabilitation Tower
UPMC broke ground on the new UPMC Vision and Rehabilitation Tower at UPMC Mercy. The facility is part of UPMC’s $2 billion investment in specialty care. The 410,000 square-foot, nine-story tower is projected to open in late 2022. The state-of-the-art facility also will offer gene and cell therapies to treat diseases of the eye. Other vision services for patients will include high-resolution imaging and state-of-the-art ocular testing, laser-assisted cataract surgery, micro-invasive ocular surgery and more than 25 scientific teams developing the therapies to fight blindness. In addition, an urgent care eye clinic for eye and vision emergencies with extended hours where patients can access ophthalmologist specialists directly.
LifePoint Health appoints two division presidents
LifePoint Health (Brentwood, TN) named Sandra Podley as Western Division president and Robert Wampler as Mountain Division president. As president of the Western Division, Podley will lead hospitals in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. She most recently served as SVP of hospital operations at Presbyterian Healthcare Services (Albuquerque, NM). As president of the Mountain Division, Wampler will oversee hospitals in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. He is the former interim Western Division president at LifePoint, a role he has held since November 2018.