Efforts to shift patients to lower-cost healthcare settings appear to flounder as the emergency department continues to play a larger role in where and how care is delivered. —Modern Healthcare, 05/21/13 More »
WORCESTER — The nurses’ strike is on. Union officials representing 1,100 nurses at UMass Memorial Medical Center — University Campus and hospital management spent four hours negotiating Monday afternoon but failed to reach a deal. —Massachusetts Nurses Association, 05/21/13 More »
A dispute between newly unionized nurses and Barstow Community Hospital will be heard by an administrative law judge next month in Los Angeles. The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against the hospital. The hearing will take place June 17. The Registered Nurses at Barstow Community Hospital group voted to join the California Nursing Association-National Nurses United union in May 2012 and began negotiating their first contract with the hospital in July. —San Bernardino Sun, 05/21/13 More »
Fallbrook Hospital may be forced to return to contract negotiations with its registered nurses. The National Labor Relations Board is set to go to federal court June 5 to request a rare federal injunction to force the hospital to comply with federal labor law. Last May, Fallbrook RNs voted to join the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United. After initial meetings to discuss a collective bargaining contract, hospital officials walked away from talks. —San Diego Union Tribune, 05/21/13 More »
State regulators have slapped Sutter Health's Alta Bates hospital in Oakland with potential fines totaling $142,970 for six health and safety violations related to failure to properly isolate patients with airborne diseases such as tuberculosis. Two violations were determined to be “serious” and “willful,” carrying a proposed penalty of $70,000 each. —Sacramento Business Journal, 05/21/13 More »
When Medicare disclosed average charges from thousands of U.S. hospitals for 100 common procedures last week, only one hospital was near the top in every category: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Be it a cardiac stent, a hip replacement or a pacemaker, Cedars-Sinai's list prices for these routine treatments ranked among the top 5% in the country. —L.A. Times, 05/20/13 More »
Nurses at Marin General Hospital have asked administrators to put implementation of a new computerized physician order entry system on hold until glitches can be worked out and more training provided to nurses and doctors who use it. —Marin Independent Journal, 05/15/13 More »
Hospitals in Ventura County used billing charges in 2011 that exceeded their actual costs by a range of 339 to 598 percent, according to data from the California Nurses Association. —Pharmacy Choice. First appeared in Ventura County Star, CA, 05/15/13 More »
If the strike plans go through, it would be the largest nurses strike in the state’s history, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United. The strike would see more than 2,000 nurses walk off the job to protest cuts in nursing and support staff in the past two years, which they insist will greatly affect patient care. —Examiner.com, 05/15/13 More »
Registered nurses form the backbone of an advanced health care system. They spend notoriously long shifts at hard labor, under great risk of work-related injury or disease, while maintaining professional and technical standards as a matter of life and death. Even under these conditions, nurses are also the heart and soul of our hospitals and clinics, providing a human touch and support for the emotional needs of the patients. It's most fitting that we honor their enormous efforts and vital contributions to our collective well-being. —Governor Jerry Brown, 05/10/13 More »
A bill aimed at increasing accountability and charity care provided by California's nonprofit hospitals has gained the support of the City Council. —Inside Bay Area, 05/08/13 More »
Nearly 500 RNs will be part of California Nurses Association. Registered nurses at Queen of the Valley Medical Center voted by 64 percent Tuesday night to join the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United. —Napa Valley Register, 05/01/13 More »
Residents of Deerfield cast an overwhelming vote last night to approve a resolution placed on the warrant for the 2013 Annual Town Meeting, which calls upon Baystate Health System to ensure and maintain a broad range of health services at nearby Baystate Franklin Medical Center and to prevent the further erosion of services once available at BFMC that are now only offered in Springfield. The full text of the resolution can be found at the end of this release. —Massachusetts Nurses Association/National Nurses United, 04/30/13 More »
OHIO--Local nurses are showing support for the rights of registered nurses by attending a National Labor Relations Board hearing in Cleveland that begins Monday, and by wearing stickers that read “I Stand with Ann for RNs’ Rights.” —IndeOnline.com, 04/29/13 More »
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Tuesday proposed legislation that would require hospitals to maintain a minimum nurse-to-patient ratio at all times, and allow the government to audit and penalize hospitals that fail to comply with this rule. —TheHill.com, 04/26/13 More »
More than 4,600 workers were killed on the job in 2011 – the latest year for which we have complete data – spanning many ages, industries, and causes of death, an analysis by the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH) has found. —COSHnetwork.org, 04/24/13 More »
Those who lost limbs in the Boston Marathon bombings now need care to learn to navigate the world in a new way — and navigate a thorny area of health care coverage, too. In the case of the Boston bombings, pledges and offers of support have poured in to help with the health care costs of the 14 people who reportedly lost all or part of a limb. But for some amputees, covering the staggering cost for prosthetics care can be a struggle. —Politico.com, 04/24/13 More »
The President’s new budget proposes to use the chained Consumer Price Index (CPI) for computing cost-of-living adjustments in Social Security and certain other federal benefits, as well as for indexing key parameters of the tax code. —Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 04/23/13 More »
CHICAGO--As this is written, everyone wounded in the terror bombings at the Boston Marathon has survived his or her wounds. This remarkable testament to effective medical response stems largely from Boston’s exceptional health-care capacity. —Chicago Sun-Times, By Jesse Jackson, 04/23/13 More »
When you're shopping for health insurance, wouldn't it be great if you could find out every insurer's claim denial rate? And how much each one spent on lobbying and advertising -- and how much they paid their CEO? —Huffington Post, By Wendell Potter, 04/23/13 More »
