Category: HEALTHCARE/MEDICAL

Think About the Worst Corporate Merger Ever – Then Add Obamacare

  • May 17, 2015
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I hate to recycle the old slight about “re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,” but the latest news from state exchanges makes it impossible to avoid: Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government gave states a collective $4.8 billion to set up and customize their own exchanges for their own state residents. The idea was that the federal government would help prop up the exchanges, and then states would have to make them self-sustainable by this year. However, a number of states including California and Oregon are having trouble financing their exchanges now that federal funding is drying up. Covered California, for example, is running a deficit of $80 million. To save on costs, California is reportedly in talks with Oregon, another

How Paid Family Leave Would Have Made Life Easier For One Family

  • May 17, 2015
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In this year’s State of the Union address, President Obama brought some much-needed attention to the topic of family leave. In the months since, he and some of his allies in Congress have been championing the “Healthy Families Act,” which establishes guidelines providing that all employees receive up to seven days of paid leave. This paid time away can fall under the category of “sick leave,” but the leave could alternatively be spent caring for a chronically ill loved one. In 2006-2007, I had the privilege of following the health care story of Thor Lem and his family. I was in the midst of producing my documentary film “American Heart,” which looks at health care through the eyes of three refugees living in the

Hospital News salutes Nursing Hero Nominee Carol Aird

  • May 17, 2015
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Carol Aird. Carol Aird RN – Peterborough Regional Health Centre Carol graduated from the McMaster School of Nursing in 1977. Her first job was outpost nursing, providing primary healthcare to isolated communities in northern Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. In 1980, she returned to Ontario and worked as a Staff Nurse with the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) in Toronto. Carol became a Public Health Nurse with the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge (HKPR) District Health Unit in 1983. From 1985 to1989 she was a Nursing Supervisor with the HKPR Health Unit and then with the Lindsay VON. These early experiences provided Carol with the opportunity to become an advocate for the health and wellness of women and their children. Carol believed that with information and support, women could make the best

Wachter and Jha trudge through the CMS readmissions Slough of Despond

  • May 17, 2015
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When two of my favorite observers of health care policy talk, I pay attention. So I was captured by Bob Wachter’s comment on Twitter:.@ashishkjha blog on readmissns is mastrpiece: rigorous anlysis, wise interpretatn, willing 2 change mind w/ new data Recall that Ashish was pretty hard on the readmissions penalty in the past, citing the disproportionate impact on safety net hospitals. In March 2014, I summarized an earlier piece prepared by him and Karen Joynt here:Over two years ago, I summarized a research paper from Karen E. Joynt and Ashish K. Jha at Brigham and Women’s Hospital that suggested that a one-size-fits-all readmission rate penalty policy would have the unintended consequence of harming safety net hospitals. They said: “Conclusions—Given that many poor-performing hospitals

Officers fatally shoot knife-wielding man in Lyndhurst library, police say

  • May 16, 2015
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A Lyndhurst man wanted for failing to show up for a jail work-release program was fatally shot by police early Friday afternoon inside the Lyndhurst library after he assaulted officers with a knife, authorities said. Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli identified the suspect killed in the police-involving shooting as Kevin Allen of Lyndhurst.

Hospital News salutes Nursing Hero Nominee Shelley Wettlaufer

  • May 16, 2015
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Shelley Wettlaufer. Shelley Wettlaufer – Mississauga Halton Community Care Access Centre I would like to nominate my nurse, and my colleague Shelley Wettlaufer whom I known for the last few months only. It is with great pleasure to nominate Shelley as an outstanding and dedicated person, who places the interests of our patients first and foremost. A registered nurse by trade, with current registration with CNO since 1995, Shelley is the team lead for West Community team with Mississauga Halton Community Care Access Centre (MHCCAC). She is also a care coordinator and the subject matter expert who provides a variety of support, advice, peer support and mentorship to her patients, team, other health care professionals involved in tertiary nursing care and also across MH CCAC. MORE: HOSPITAL NEWS