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Byline: Vince Galloro Central Connecticut Health Alliance is choosing to walk into the arms of a nearby systembefore low margins, lack of capital and healthcare reform make it run. The [...]

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.--For hospital administrators in competitive markets, the intense pressure to get results can make it easy for them to forget how much they have in common with their [...]

The article reports on the results of the 33rd annual Hospital Systems Survey conducted by "Modern Healthcare" which revealed net losses for not-for-profit hospitals systems in the U.S. in 2008. The survey found that the collection of religious, secular, and government-run nonfederal systems had overall net losses of $5.9 billion, while the average not-for-profit system posted a $31 million net loss in income for the fiscal year. However, analysts said that for-profits do not maintain the large equities portfolios seen at not-for-profits.

The article focuses on the results of a survey conducted by the magazine which found that health systems face rising write-offs for patients who cannot pay their bills. The survey, though not scientific, offers a snapshot of hospital systems' financial health and operations. Results suggest losses from uninsured and underinsured patients are pinching budgets at a time when consumers, employers and states are struggling with financial troubles of their own as the economy struggles to skip recession.

Presents information on the 29th annual Hospital Systems Survey conducted by "Modern Healthcare." Information on largest healthcare systems; Profit margin of hospital operations; Information on systems' operations by type.

Reports on the decision of the not-for-profit Beloit Memorial Hospital in Wisconsin to turn down acquisition offers. Reason for the decision; Statement issued by Gregory Britton, the hospital's president and chief executive officer; Net income posted by the hospital in 2003.

Provides an overview of the performance of healthcare systems in the U.S. based from the hospital systems survey of the periodical 'Modern Healthcare.' Profits posted by hospitals in 2002; Factor attributed to hospital industry's efforts to increase their Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements; Criticisms and arguments concerning Medicare reimbursement increases.

This article reports on the opportunities open to for-profit hospitals in developing countries such as India, South Africa, Latin America and in developed countries Europe. The high economic growth being experienced by India means a growing middle class that can afford private hospital services. But still there is a huge portion of the Indian population that cannot yet afford the services of private hospitals. In Europe, inflexible labor laws in government hospitals gives for-profit hospitals an advantage.

The article reports on the launch of Legacy Hospital Partners in January 2008. Denny Shelton, former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Triad Hospitals, is the nonexecutive chairman of the new hospital company. Legacy starts with nine employees in an office building in Plano, Texas. Bridging the for-profit and not-for-profit hospital worlds is Legacy's strategy, as the company plans to acquire hospitals through joint venture deals with not-for-profit systems.

This article reports on the approaches used by hospitals in Kansas and Missouri to show regulators that they take their community obligations seriously in 2006. The approaches were applied following the move of Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline to investigate the billing and collection practices of hospitals in the state. According to Maynard Oliverus, president and CEO of the Stormont-Vail HealthCare system, hospitals have to be very sensitive to the needs of uninsured people and their ability to pay.

The article discusses the benefits of joint ventures to non-for-profit and for-profit hospitals in the U.S. The George Washington University Hospital decided to enter a joint venture with Universal Health Service in order to ensure the facility would be available to its professional health programs. It cites the role of taxation in the temporary disuse of the joint venture strategy. Among the factors to be considered by not-for-profit providers in seeking such deals are the purchase price and the status of existing employees.

Examines the decision of the Brunswick Community Hospital officials to cancel its operation of for-profit Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) in favor of not-for-profit Novant Health in North Carolina. Condition of the community hospital when it was opened in 1977 according to family medicine practitioner Lee Langston; Inability of the community hospital infrastructure to support the local population growth in 2004; Refusal of HCA to expand amid the growth.

The article focuses on the strategic transformation of HCA following its issuance of corporate bonds with a 100-year maturity date in the U.S. The expansion of the company's hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers demonstrates its market dominance via its delivery system. The company spent $75 million for the construction of the StoneCrest Medical Center which opened in 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee. In order to become more competitive in the health care industry, HCA protects its interests and makes every effort to be more community-friendly.

Profiles Jim Moss, CEO of West Tennessee Healthcare Inc. Comments of Bob Gordon, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. on Moss as a leader; Educational and employment background of Moss; Growth in the Jackson-Madison County General Hospital during the headship of Moss; Positions of Moss in several healthcare associations.

Presents the results of studies on the effect of for-profit hospitals on not-for-profit hospitals conducted by researchers in the U.S. Discussion on the price issue in the healthcare industry; Opinion of insurers on the price issue; Background on a study of Medicare claims for respiratory disease from 1989 to 1998.

Reports on the deals of Tenet Healthcare Corp. to sell several hospitals in the U.S. Selection of possible candidates for the replacement of Jeffrey Barbakow as its CEO; List of potential candidates, including Robert O'Leary and John Casey.

Forecasts on the future of hospitals in the U.S. Trends in hospitals; Hurdles to the implementation of medical technology; Design concept of the Greenville Hospital System in South Carolina.

Presents updates on medical care in various states in the U.S. as of July 8, 2002. Expansion of the University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital; Violations of working hours at teaching hospitals in the state of New York; Closure of the San Jose Medical Center in California.

The article discusses the issues relating to setting the minimum nurse-to-patient ratios at hospitals and nursing homes in New Jersey. It mentions the findings of 2011 study by Health Services Research such as impacts of increased staffing of nurses on the financial pressure on California hospitals. It also mentions the views of Benjamin Evans, a registered nurse and head of the New Jersey State Nurses Association on the hiring of nurse and hospital management.

The article informs that Hackensack Meridian Health and Novartis Pharmaceuticals partnered to offer CAR-T cell therapy, as July 2018, in New Jersey, as it has successfully treated two pediatric cancer patients. It explores views of Alfred Gillio, director of the Children's Cancer Institute at JMS Children's Hospital, on the partnership.

The article offers information about the public-private partnership between RWIBaraabas Health and Rutgers University, as of July 2018. Topics discussed include views of RWIBaraabas Health's chief executive Barry Ostrowsky on the issue; the firm's plans to create the largest academic hospital network in New Jersey; and role of the partnership in creating the premiere network of teaching hospitals.

The article reports that RWIBarnabas University Hospital Somerset will be expanding its medical services to the LGBTQ community, which will include special­ists, nurses and bigger space in the hospital.

The article focuses on the goal of health care systems such as RWJBarnabas Health, Hackensack Meridian Health, and Virtua Health to become High Reliability Organizations (HRO), which requires hospitals to train all of its employees in rigorous safety standards with the goal of eliminating all preventable harm. The numerous benefits of becoming an HRO are stated.

The article discusses the large hospital systems which include Hackensack Meridian Health, RWJBarnabas Health and Atlantic Health System which have scheduled openings of their own primary- and specialty-care offices in 2017. It states that hospitals are competing in offering patients a more complete continuum of services that range from primary and ambulatory care to acute hospital care and aftercare.

The article informs that the Hackensack University Medical Center's John Theurer Cancer Center has formed a partnership with New York City's Memorial Sloan Kettering to offer CAR T cell therapy for patients suffering from a rare form of blood cancer.

The article discusses the Society of Hospital Linen Service and Laundry Managers' linen standards for the health care sector in Great Britain. The society aims to establish minimum standards for the purchase, processing and storage of linen used within the National Health Service and healthcare sector. The guide is aimed at those based at ward and department level, those employed within a laundry by a linen service provider and those responsible for monitoring and agreeing service provision.

The article discusses partnerships formed in the Kentucky hospital market. U.K. HealthCare and Norton Healthcare announced their partnership while University of Louisville Hospital is teaming up with Catholic Health Initiatives. It also mentions that the purpose of the partnerships formed is to gain the geographic scale and integration of care needed to improve outcomes statewide and compete regionally making the residents of the city and state of Kentucky the ultimate beneficiaries of the mergers.

The article reports on the progress and development in the medical-mart construction projects in Cleveland, Ohio and Nashville, Tennessee. Details of the construction of the Cleveland Medical Mart & Convention Center by developer MMPI and the Nashville Medical Trade Center by developer Market Center Management Co. are provided. It discusses the competition between Cleveland and Nashville developers to step ahead of the other and determines which project would be more successful. How the projects are being financed are also discussed. INSET: Untitled.

The article discusses the negative impact of improvements in healthcare delivery on hospital buildings in the U.S. It states that many medical facilities are being demolished to build new ones, but this may change because of environmental considerations and desire to reuse buildings. An architectural consultant suggests that hospital buildings should be designed with exit or reuse strategies.

The article discusses the strategy employed by physicians groups by selling their practice or pursuing integration with a hospital system. One example of a physician group embracing this trend is Austin Heart wherein cardiologists in private practice have decided to respond to a fee-schedule ruling issued by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services by pursuing an integration. Another group active in its physician-integration strategies is Hospital Corp. of America (HCA).

The article reports on the decision of HCA to terminate its deal to sell 339-bed West Florida Hospital in Pensacola, Florida to Baptist Health Care Corp. According to Al Stubblefield, president and chief executive officer of Baptist Health, the company was not able to meet a contractual deadline to secure financing for the deal. Because of this, HCA announced that it would exercise the payment-in-kind (PIK) option on some $1.5 billion in bonds during its third-quarter earnings conference call on November 6, 2008.

The article reports on the decline in the steep volume of Naples, Florida-based Health Management Associates in the second quarter of 2008. The company said its efforts to reduce its self-pay patient volume inadvertently scared off many insured patients, too. The other large driver of the volume decline was the company's sale of a 27% stake in its hospitals in North and South Carolina to Novant Health, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, HMA said.

The article reports on the dispute between HCA and the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency over HCA's proposal to build a 56-bed hospital in Spring Hill. The certificate-of-need (CON) awarded to HCA is being appealed by Williamson (Tenn.) Medical Center and Maury Regional Hospital, the nearest hospitals to Spring Hill. But the agency chose a joint venture (JV) of Maury Regional and Vanderbilt University Medical Center to build a radiation oncology center in Spring Hill over a similar proposal made by HCA after the JV filed its plans.

The article announces that Prime Healthcare Services is building a hospital empire across Southern California. According to a securities filing, Tenet Healthcare Corp. owned or operated 28 hospitals in Los Angeles and Orange counties in California as of December 31, 2003. Prime has agreed to acquire 72-bed Garden Grove Hospital and Medical Center and 64-bed San Dimas Community Hospital in California.

The article discusses the effect of JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s expected acquisition of Bear, Stearns & Co. on hospital systems in the U.S. It states that the deal would forge a larger, single player in not-for-profit healthcare investment banking by combining the units at each firm. Combined, Bear Stearns and JPMorgan might have ranked as high as number 3 in tax-exempt hospital bonds for which it was the lead manager in 2007, according to data from Thomson Financial.

This article examines the outcome of the divestitures made by Tenet Healthcare Corp. from 2002-2007 using Medicare cost reports filed by these hospitals. The 14 hospitals that Tenet slated for divestiture in 2003 were much more profitable facilities, both before and after divestiture, than the 2004 and 2006 divestiture groups, the data show. The 2003 group also appears to have been less reliant on Medicare outlier payments than the two later divestiture groups.

The article reveals the purchase by Capella of nine U.S. hospitals from Community Health Systems for $315 million. Completing the deal will boost privately held Capella's hospital portfolio from five to 14 facilities. The deal requires customary federal antitrust clearance and some state regulatory approvals, none of which are expected to hold up the closing, Capella president Tom Anderson said. With this latest sale, Community is meeting investor expectations that it would trim its hospital portfolio after acquiring Triad, analysts said.