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FDA says Georgia plant is sole salmonella source

admin — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 09:30:25 +0000

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The sole source of the U.S. salmonella outbreak involving contaminated peanut butter appears to be the Peanut Corp of America’s Blakely, Georgia processing facility, federal officials said on Wednesday.
More than 125 products including cookies, crackers, ice cream and even some pet food have been recalled in connection with the outbreak, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.
Six deaths may be associated with the outbreak, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The CDC said at least 486 people from 43 states and one person in Canada have been reported ill from the outbreak of the Salmonella typhimurium strain, with 107 of them being hospitalized.
Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said Connecticut health authorities tested an unopened container of peanut butter from the PCA’s Blakely plant and discovered the strain linked to the outbreak of illness.
The fact that the unopened container had the strain indicates contamination did not occur after it was shipped from the facility, Sundlof said. Coupled with previous evidence, Sundlof said authorities believe the Blakely plant is the only source of the outbreak.
“That is our assumption at this point. We will continue to follow up on any leads that point us in a different direction,” Sundlof told reporters during a conference call.
The plant is not currently operating, he said.
Sundlof said he expects the number of recalled products to continue to increase.
Among the latest was by NutriSystem Inc, which announced on Wednesday a voluntary recall of its peanut butter granola bar. On Tuesday, PetSmart Inc, the largest U.S. pet-products and services retailer, recalled seven of its Grreat Choice Dog Biscuit products.
General Mills Inc, Kellogg Co and other companies also have recalled products.
Authorities say peanut butter sold on grocery store shelves does not appear to be involved.
PCA has recalled peanut butter and peanut paste products manufactured since July at the Blakely plant because of potential Salmonella contamination. Peanut paste is a concentrated product consisting of ground, roasted peanuts.
PCA manufactures peanut butter and peanut paste distributed to food manufacturers to be used as ingredients in commercially produced products. PCA peanut butter also is served in long-term care facilities and cafeterias.
Salmonella can cause abdominal cramping, diarrhea and fever and it can kill the very young and very old.
“More cases are being reported every day. The outbreak appears to be ongoing,” Dr. Robert Tauxe of the CDC said.
Minnesota authorities previously tested an opened container from the plant, and found the Typhimurium strain.
Sundlof said a federal inspection of the Blakely plant turned up evidence of salmonella on the floor, but not the Typhimurium strain.
“It does indicate that there are problems within the plant because salmonella should not be found there,” he said.

Kennewick General Hospital Gets Certificate of Need For Expansion

admin — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:11:40 +0000

KENNEWICK, Wash.– Kennewick General Hospital is one step closer to a future expansion.
The hospital got its certificate of need approved from the state. Now the hospital can apply for a loan from the Federal Housing Administration for more funding.
KGH leaders plan to build a new facility on the 40 acres of land known as the Southridge campus. The hospital’s CEO says having a new facility will also help our local job market.
“We’ll be creating a lot of construction jobs during the construction timeline but we’ve also estimated roughly about 100 new jobs fairly quickly will be created by the new project,” said Glen Marshall, Kennewick General Hospital CEO.
Other plans to raise money for the $113 project include taking money from the hospital’s cash reserves, selling property, and fundraising through the KGH foundation.

MJ Harris completes Texas hospital

admin — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:12:28 +0000

said it has completed the construction of a rehabilitation hospital in Texas.
The Birmingham-based general contractor recently completed the 64,000-square-foot Reliant Rehabilitation Hospital of North Houston, said a news release.
The three-story building includes 40 private rehabilitation rooms and 20 private skilled nursing rooms to serve patients in North Harris and Montgomery counties in Texas.
M.J. Harris said it encountered several obstacles along the way, including the threat of two hurricanes and a direct hit from Hurricane Ike in September, which left the site without power for one week.
Despite those obstacles, the contractor said it turned the project over to the owner in December.

Executive pledges $100M to hospital for AIDS research

admin — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:46:42 +0000

reports that Phillip Terrence Ragon will announce the gift to Massachusetts General Hospital on Wednesday.
The hospital will get $10 million a year for the next decade to bring together doctors, engineers and biologists from Massachusetts General as well as other research institutions, including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The 59-year-old Ragon is the founder and sole owner of InterSystems Corp., a company that provides database software to hospitals and other industries.
Ragon decided to create the institute after witnessing the plight of AIDS patients while visiting South Africa.

‘Blade Runner’ Pistorius in Hospital After Boating Accident

admin — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:27:21 +0000

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) — South Africa’s
, a
double amputee who made history by winning an appeal to allow him
to compete against able-bodied athletes, was admitted to a
Johannesburg hospital last night after he was injured in a
boating accident.
“At this point he’s in a critical but stable position in
intensive care,” Amelda Swartz, a spokeswoman for the Millpark
Hospital said today. It was too early to say whether he would
make a full recovery, she said.
Pistorius uses carbon-fiber prosthetics that have gained him
the nickname “Blade Runner.” He was born without his fibula,
the smaller of the two bones in the lower legs, and had both
limbs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. He had
taken up running as a teenager to recover from a rugby injury.
The 22-year-old, who has broken more than 25 Paralympic
records, won a court ruling in May that overturned a ban on him
competing against able-bodied athletes. While he failed to
qualify for the Beijing Olympics last year, he took three gold
medals in the
.
.
Last Updated: February 22, 2009 09:53 EST

FDA says Georgia plant is sole salmonella source

admin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:29:40 +0000

Patrick, McGovern tour growing medical company in Westborough

admin — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:23:20 +0000

A medical technology company that employs 500 people here should get a significant boost – translating into more jobs – from President Obama’s economic stimulus package, Gov. Deval Patrick said Thursday.
Patrick’s remarks came during a tour of eClinicalWorks’ Rte. 9 headquarters where he and officials were shown the software that allows physicians and other health care workers to tap into up-to-the-minute information on patients.
“The very good news that’s going on here at eClinicalWorks is about creating jobs for the here and now and creating value for the long-term,” Patrick said. “It’s about how we move to a more modern and forward-looking healthcare system in a way to control cost and reduce errors.”
eClinicalWorks is the kind of company that stands to thrive from the $787 billion stimulus package, which sets aside $19 billion to modernize health care technology.
To benefit a company like eClinicalWorks, the stimulus funding would be given to hospitals, community health centers and doctors’ offices that would buy the company’s record-keeping system.
“In this lousy economic time, eClinicalWorks has 750 employees, 500 right here in Westborough,” said U.S Rep. James McGovern, D-3rd. “This is good news and this is what the stimulus can help support.”
The company produces electronic record-keeping systems that let doctors track patients’ conditions, generate prescriptions and track whether patients actually obtain those prescriptions – all on a tablet PC.
Girish Navani, CEO and co-founder of eClinicalWorks, said the stimulus package gave his company a virtual go-ahead after a period of concern over whether to do any more hiring.
“We see that the stimulus bill, at least in terms of healthcare technology, is having a direct impact in the short-term for companies like eClinicalWorks, which is hiring aggressively,” he said. “We forecast over the next two years to bring at least 500 new jobs to Massachusetts. That will essentially serve our customers across the country with the demand that’s expected out of the health care IT bill that’s being passed now.”
In addition to improving the speed and efficiency of medical records, Navani said new technology helps reduce major costs at hospitals and other health care centers.
“Massachusetts has led electronic medical record adoptions with projects like Mass E-Health well before this all became a reality,” Navani said.
McGovern also talked about the Republican opposition he and other Democrats faced when trying to get the stimulus bill passed.
“It’s a little bit ironic that the people who drove this economy into a ditch are complaining about the size of the tow truck,” he said. “But the fact of the matter is this economic stimulus package has real meaning and that meaning is evident here at eClinicalWorks.”

Interim CEO hired as new JPS Health Network's CEO

admin — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:56:28 +0000

FORT WORTH, Texas
— A former state legislator is the new chief executive of JPS Health Network, the Tarrant County Hospital District board voted Wednesday.
Robert Earley was chosen by a 10-1 vote despite some concern that his eight months as the district’s interim CEO was his only experience running a health-care system. Terms of his contract have not been set, the district said.
JPS board chairman Steve Montgomery said the board looked at numerous candidates “to be sure we had the right person to provide strong leadership for this public hospital.”
Earley became interim CEO in May when the board ousted David Cecero amid criticism that JPS was focusing too much on profit and not enough on the county’s poorest patients. Early started working for JPS in 2005 as the senior vice president of public affairs and advocacy.
The hospital chose Earley over former JPS executive Wright Lassiter, now the CEO of Almeda County Medical Center in Oakland, Calif., the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in Wednesday online editions. Lassiter has 18 years of hospital administration experience.
Earley, who has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Texas, is pursuing a master’s degree in health-care administration at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Hospital staff to speak at Patel inquiry

admin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:29:40 +0000

Staff from the Bundaberg Base Hospital will continue to give evidence on Friday to the Jayant Patel committal hearing in Brisbane.
On Thursday the hearing was told Patel was a difficult man who would lie to families about the success of operations even when his patients’ health was deteriorating.
Intensive care unit nurse Karen Stumer (Stumer) told the court on video link she overheard Patel telling the family of James Phillips that he was stable after an oesophagacetomy in May 2003, when in fact he was deteriorating.
Mr Phillips died just days after Patel’s operation.
The hearing will run for another two weeks, with an additional two weeks set aside in April.

4 Students Taken To Hospital After School Bus Wreck

admin — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:40:25 +0000

UNION COUNTY, Fla. – Four students in Union County were rushed to an area hospital on Wednesday after a pickup truck driver rear-ended their school bus.
The wreck took place at about 3:15 p.m. after school on State Road 121 just south of Raiford.
Union County Sheriff’s deputies said a pickup truck driver failed to stop at an intersection and rear-ended the bus.
Four of the students onboard the bus were take to Lake Butler Hospital as a precaution.
Some of the remaining students were picked up by their parents at the scene of the crash and the other students on the school bus were immediately loaded onto another bus and taken to their homes.
Several school staff members were on scene to assist parents, according to the sheriff’s office.
The 16-year-old driver of the pickup truck was taken to Shands Gainesville Medical Center, but is expected to be OK.
The Florida Highway Patrol was investigating the crash. There was no word on whether any charges would be filed.