Past Surgery Patients At Denver Hospital Might Be At Risk For HIV, Hepatitis
Patients notified by Porter Adventist Hospital are receiving a list of frequently asked questions. Other hospital news comes from Tennessee, Maryland, Texas, California, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Arizona, as well.
Denver Post:
Porter Adventist Hospital Surgery Patients Being Notified Of "Very Low" Potential Risk Of HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C
An infection-control breach involving surgical instruments at Porter Adventist Hospital may have put some surgery patients at risk for contracting hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV, hospital and state health officials said Wednesday. The breach may have affected patients who had orthopedic or spine surgery between July 21, 2016, and Feb. 20. The risk of getting HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C is “very low,” said Larry Wolk, the executive director and chief medical officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. (Hernandez, 4/4)
Modern Healthcare:
Hospital Chain CHS In Trouble With Microsoft
Microsoft is suing Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems for alleged copyright infringement, claiming the provider has allowed hospitals it divested to continuing using Microsoft software without paying for it. The lawsuit filed in March in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee also states CHS has repeatedly failed to comply with Microsoft's audit of the hospital system's computer software use. A CHS spokeswoman declined to comment. Microsoft allows large companies like 126-hospital CHS to license its software for use across the entire business. Under a license agreement, CHS and its affiliated companies are prohibited from distributing or lending Microsoft software to others, according to the lawsuit. (Livingston, 4/5)
The Baltimore Sun:
Baltimore's MedStar Franklin Square Hospital Closing Some Pediatric Services
MedStar Health said Wednesday that it is eliminating much of the pediatric services it offers at its Franklin Square Medical Center amid a decline in patients. Pediatric admissions to the east Baltimore County hospital have declined 40 percent in the past five years, MedStar said in a statement. Statewide they have declined 23 percent. (McDaniels, 4/4)
Houston Chronicle:
Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital Sets Plans For $25 Million Expansion
Memorial Hermann Cypress Hospital, a $168 million facility, is planning to expand just as the hospital nears its one-year anniversary in the Cypress community. The recently approved expansion will cost nearly $25 million and develop empty space already built on the Cypress campus. Expansion additions will include 24 licensed beds, including intensive care unit beds, as well as an additional catheterization lab for heart procedures and endoscopy suite for gastrointestinal procedures. (Bradley, 4/4)
Modern Healthcare:
Dialysis Industry On Alert As Calif. Union Pushes For Reimbursement Cap
A California fight between dialysis clinics and a major hospital workers' union has healthcare industry investors and stakeholders jittery as the union gets ready to push a ballot initiative to cap private insurance reimbursements for dialysis.
The Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West, one of the country's largest hospital workers' unions, has gathered more than 600,000 voter signatures for a statewide ballot measure to cut off dialysis clinics' commercial insurance reimbursement at 115% of care costs, which would slash their current rates. (Livingston, 4/5)
New Hampshire Union Leader:
CMC, Mass. General To Team Up For New Salem Office
Catholic Medical Center wants to team up with Massachusetts General Hospital and a few others to occupy a medical office building offering specialty services in the new Tuscan Village in Salem. “Our goal was to create a super-regional medical destination,” Tuscan Village developer Joe Faro said in an interview Wednesday. (Cousineau, 4/4)
The Associated Press:
Court Weighs Hospital's Blame In Killing By Ex-Patient
In 2012, a judge ordered Tu Nguyen to be civilly committed for up to six months. Eleven days later, he was released from the hospital, and within weeks had stabbed his neighbor to death in front of her 8-year-old granddaughter. Mary Miller's family is now asking Massachusetts' highest court to decide whether the hospital can be held responsible in a case that's stirring complex questions about whether mental health providers should be liable when former patients commit crimes. (4/4)
Arizona Republic:
Banner Loses Legal Case That Pitted Religious Beliefs Against Science
The parents of a 14-year-old boy with bone cancer won a legal challenge against a Mesa hospital that attempted to override their religious objections to blood transfusions. The Arizona Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that a lower court's emergency hotline used by hospitals to authorize medical treatment on behalf of patients is not allowed under state law. (Alltucker, 4/4)
