Healthcare
Hospitals Join Johnson County EMS Effort
Six area hospitals have signed on to become paying partners in a Johnson County program aimed at providing the high-quality care to patients in need of emergency services.
Facing layoffs and closures, rural hospitals push for medicaid expansion
If you’re in the market for fluorescent light bulbs, you might talk to Chris Smiley. In the past few weeks, she’s been trying to sell off what’s left of Sac-Osage Hospital. “Casework, lighting, plumping, sinks, toilets. Anything you want,” Smiley says. That’s not in her job description. She’s actually the CEO of Sac-Osage, a hospital…
A rally of support, for dismissed KC doctor
About two dozen women and children protested outside Research Medical Center on Monday afternoon in support of an obstetrician who was let go last month. Lisa Cohen, a midwife from Lee’s Summit, Mo., started a petition to reinstate Dr. Howard Schwartz that so far has drawn more than 1,300 signatures.
St. Luke’s and Liberty hospitals join forces on cancer care
Saint Luke’s and Liberty hospitals on Monday announced an agreement to partner on the provision of cancer care.
Children’s Mercy Hospital Dealing With Mysterious Neurologic Condition
Children’s Mercy Hospital has a medical mystery on its hands.
Doctors there are trying to figure out what caused a severe neurologic condition between mid-September and early October in three patients, including a 13-year-old from Joplin, Mo.
Twins Peak At Saint Luke’s East Hospital
When Jennifer Vaughn delivered identical twin girls at Saint Luke’s East Hospital last week, she and her husband were not that surprised – and it wasn’t just because of the sonograms or because she had dreamt of having twins even before the ultrasounds.
An uncertain future, for Kansas rural hospitals
Experts on rural Kansas hospitals made dire predictions about their fiscal futures in a legislative hearing Wednesday that laid the groundwork for a discussion of Medicaid expansion. Rep. Tom Sloan, chairman of the Vision 2020 Committee, said that he’s trying to start a discussion about crafting an expansion plan that addresses the needs of stakeholders and the concerns of those wary of its connections to the Affordable Care Act.
KC-area hospitals penalized for infection rates and safety issues
Eleven Kansas City-area hospitals have been hit with penalties for hospital-acquired infections and other complications that Medicare deems avoidable.
The hospitals’ Medicare payments will be docked by 1 percent in the fiscal year that runs from October 2014 through September 2015.
How nonprofit hospitals – including one in Missouri – are seizing patients’ wages
Earlier this year, ProPublica and NPR reported that the wages of millions of U.S. workers are diverted to pay off a variety of consumer debts. Most states, like Missouri, allow creditors to take a quarter of after-tax wages—an amount that government surveys show is unaffordable for lower-income families.
Children’s Mercy Hospital develops app for infant heart defects
About 3,000 infants are born each year with single-ventricle heart defects. While that’s a relatively small number, for the newborns’ families the diagnosis can be devastating, says Dr. Girish Shirali, co-director of the Ward Family Heart Center at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. “It’s very difficult for families, because nobody expects this. So it…