Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web from December 5-December 11.

Iowa Headlines

Shawn Johnson donates $50k to hospital
The West Des Moines native and Olympic gold medalist won the money on the celebrity version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Johnson said the money is just the start of an endowment to help the Child Life services build a recreational center.  (December 5, KCCI)

Small-town hospital gets big-city upgrades
Buena Vista Regional Medical Center is now the proud owner the 3Tesla MRI, which is the most powerful and accurate imaging machine available. This machine cuts patient’s testing time from one hour down to about 18 minutes and its one of only three machines in Iowa.  (December 6, KCAU)

Plows usher mom-to-be from Grinnell to Des Moines
Van Ersvelde, 34 weeks pregnant with her second child, spent more than two hours in the back of an ambulance as it crawled from Grinnell to Des Moines with state snowplows escorting it the whole way. An ambulance took her to Grinnell Regional Medical Center, but because she has a rare blood condition, officials decided she needed to go to a bigger hospital.  (December 10, Des Moines Register)

‘Ponseti wanted all children to be healthy’
A crowd of about 500 people attended a celebration of life in honor of orthopedics pioneer Ignacio Ponseti in a ballroom at the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. Colleagues remembered him as not only a brilliant medical mind and visionary in his field, but also as a dedicated father, husband and friend.  (December 7, Iowa City Press-Citizen)

U.S.  Headlines

Finding the nerve to cut health costs
It is abundantly clear that our medical system wastes enormous amounts of money on health care that doesn’t make people healthier. Hospitals that practice more intensive medicine, to take one example, get no better results than more conservative hospitals, research shows. And while the insured receive better care and are healthier than the uninsured, the lavishly insured — those households with so-called Cadillac plans — are not better off than households with merely good insurance. (December 8, New York Times)

Temp firms a magnet for unfit nurses
An investigation by the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica and the Los Angeles Times found dozens of instances in which staffing agencies skimped on background checks or ignored warnings from hospitals about sub-par nurses on their payrolls. Some hired nurses sight unseen, without even conducting an interview.  (December 6, Los Angeles Times)

Labor board OKs challenge to SEIU
A federal labor board decision this week has given a major victory to a breakaway union vying with the giant Service Employees International Union to represent tens of thousands of California healthcare workers.  (December 5, Los Angeles Times)

Surgeon general calls for more minorities in health care
U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said during a conference on health disparities in Atlanta that the nation must reverse the downward trend of minorities attending medical, dental and nursing schools. Benjamin said the recent downward trend in minority admissions follows years of gains in these areas. She cited a study that said minorities make up only 6 percent of U.S. physicians. (December 5, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Musical surgeon examines the OR soundtrack
Surgeons have long listened to music while they work, saying it helps them relax and concentrate. But now Claudius Conrad, MD, an accomplished pianist and a senior surgical resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, is scientifically testing how music affects surgeons, their patients, and even relatives in the waiting room. The goal is to understand whether music can improve results of surgery, and whether it might be used as a medical treatment. (December 7, Boston Globe)

Trial puts focus on kids’ care in Florida
Speaking at a conference on Medicaid in June 2007, Florida’s healthcare chief at the time, Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, bemoaned the “critical’” shortage of doctors willing to accept payment from the state’s insurance program for the needy.  But two years later, under questioning from lawyers who sued seeking to reform the insurance program, Agwunobi repeatedly insisted he couldn’t recall whether there were enough doctors who accept Medicaid reimbursement — or whether he ever made statements about the program’s shortcomings.  (December 7, Miami Herald)

Harvard picks top 10 health stories for 2009
Swine flu, health reform and debates over breast and prostate screening tests are among the top 10 health stories identified by the Harvard Health Letter in its annual list. The Harvard University publication develops a top 10 list each year with help from doctors on its editorial board.  (December 5, Healthcare IT News)