Featuring hospital and health care headlines from the media and Web from January 1-8.

Iowa Headlines

Danny Harris: Hospital hero
Diplomats, doctors and do-gooders often populate the year-end lists of extraordinary people.  Janitor Danny Harris should be on the list. Harris, who grew up in a state facility in Glenwood with other disabled Iowans, hasn’t missed a day of work in 38 years. That’s nearly 14,000 days of mopping and scouring the hallways and operating rooms of St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Sioux City. (January 4, Des Moines Register)

Odd but true: Hospitals ask state to tax them
The hospitals aren’t just being good citizens in the state’s time of budgetary need. Most of them expect to come out ahead on the deal. The request is part of a complicated plan to bring in more federal money for health care. Legislators would impose a “provider assessment” on the hospitals, raising about $40 million. The state would spend most of the proceeds on Medicaid. (January 8, Des Moines Register)

Grassley likes amendment helping rural hospitals
Sen. Chuck Grassley likes at least one part of the Senate health care reform bill — the amendment that would increase Medicare reimbursements for smaller hospitals like Skiff Medical Center in Newton. Last month, Sen. Tom Harkin touted an amendment to the health care bill that would benefit smaller rural hospitals with larger Medicare reimbursements. (January 7, Newton Daily News)

Wait for mental health care gets longer for Polk residents
The waiting list for Polk County residents in need of long-term mental health care is growing at a record rate, causing delays of up to five years before some people can receive care, officials said. Currently, the average time for people waiting to be admitted for long-term care is 412 days, according to the greater Des Moines chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.  (January 7, Des Moines Register)

Ease rules for health program for poor, bill urges
Poor, uninsured adults from throughout Iowa could receive health care at nearby hospitals and clinics, instead of having to travel to Iowa City, under proposed changes to a state health-care program. For most Iowa residents, the IowaCare program pays for medical care only at University of Iowa Hospitals. For Polk County residents, the program also covers care at Broadlawns Medical Center. (January 7, Des Moines Register)

Is this the year for “fair share”?
Gov. Chet Culver’s chief of staff thinks there’s “a legitimate chance” legislation will pass this year allowing public employee unions to charge nonunion employees for some expenses. But he said he did not think it would apply to private employers. The idea is among four that unions have pushed in the Legislature since Democrats took charge of the Statehouse in 2007. But they have failed amid strong resistance from the state’s construction and business lobbyists. (January 8, Des Moines Register)

Mary Greeley Gift Shop workers retire after a combined 69 years
After a combined 69 years of working at the Mary Greeley Medical Center Gift Shop, Linda Dasher and Mary Ann Carr were given a gift of their own: Auxiliary scholarships in each of their names, for high school students wishing to enter the health care field.  (January 5, Ames Tribune)

Wheelchair company workers face fraud charges
Two Sioux Cityans face fraud charges after authorities say they billed Medicaid for services they didn’t provide. Linda Stroman and Vincent Stroman both faces charges of “fraudulent practice”, and “commission of a specified unlawful activity.” (January 6, KTIV)

Surgery center expansion at UMP is complete
A recently completed expansion project has positioned the Allen Ambulatory Surgery Center for a transition in 2010. Since the center opened just over 10 years ago the primary focus has been outpatient procedures that require little recovery time. But when the center began outgrowing its space in the United Medical Park on Ridgeway Avenue it proved the perfect opportunity to add space and services. (January 4, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier)

A busy, fulfilling ‘retirement’
There’s at least one unread book on Sister Helen Huewe’s bookcase. “Not long ago, I read a book about retiring gracefully,” she said. “I set it aside. I’m not ready for that.” Instead, Huewe, a former chair of the IHA Board, has spent her golden years opening doors for those in need. (January 1, Dubuque Telegraph Herald)

U.S.  Headlines

Health bills would shift Medicare money to ‘high-value’ hospitals
Language in both the House and Senate health care reform bills would reward hospitals for efficiency in their Medicare spending, a dramatic change in the formula for parceling out the public dollars, which can account for as much as half of a hospital’s budget.  (January 6, Washington Post)

Democrats circle the wagons as health talks restart
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, responding to Republican criticism of closed-door meetings on health-care legislation, said she would strive for transparency as Democrats kicked off their final push for a bill. A letter to Ms. Pelosi and other congressional leaders is urging them to allow cameras at the discussions. That echoed a point Republicans have often made during the health care debate, charging that Democrats were making too many decisions in private discussions. (January 6, Wall Street Journal)

How interest groups behind health care legislation are financed is often unclear
Many of the Washington, DC, interest groups that are seeking to shape final health care legislation in the coming weeks operate with opaque financing, often receiving hidden support from insurers, drug makers or unions. The groups have spent months staging protests, organizing letter-writing campaigns and contributing to a record $200 million advertising blitz on health care reform. (January 7, Washington Post)

Hospitals take on health reform
Congress is still on vacation, but the wrangling over health care reform isn’t taking any time off. With the House and Senate trying to align two different bills, everybody at the bargaining table is trying to figure out what reform could mean for them, including hospitals. (January 7, PBS Nightly Business Report)

R.O.I. on cancer spending: better than we think?
It is commonly thought that the nearly-40-year “war on cancer” has largely been a failure, since the age-adjusted mortality rate for cancer is essentially unchanged over that time.  But that’s a deceptive metric. (January 6, New York Times)

Health insurers’ rescission practices are exposed to more scrutiny
The California Court of Appeal in Los Angeles ruled last month that local prosecutors could sue health insurers over the way they treat consumers. The opinion came in a high-stakes lawsuit accusing Anthem Blue Cross of California of violating state business laws by selling the promise of insurance but rescinding coverage after policyholders submit claims for costly medical care. (January 2, Los Angeles Times)

Nursing students turned away amid faculty shortage
Amid a looming shortage of nurses nationwide, Indiana nursing programs rejected about 2,500 qualified applicants because the schools didn’t have the full-time faculty needed to teach them, a survey found. The 2008 survey by the Indiana Nursing Workforce Development Coalition said faculty shortages prevent nursing programs from maintaining a supply of qualified applicants. (January 3, Chicago Tribune)

High-tech hospital gowns are hot
Surgical patients are wearing a new type of gown. A machine blows warm air between layers of paper – actually a DuPont fabric made of wood fibers, polypropylene and polyester – to keep patients toasty before, during, and after surgery. The new gowns, which cost about $15 each, not only make patients feel better; doctors say they also help them heal better. (January 1, Philadelphia Inquirer)