Still, Paterson noted the deficit reduction plan sliced the 2009-10 deficit by $800 million, largely through the Power Authority money and higher insurance fees and tuition.
The plan was the fourth round of cuts to this year’s $121.7-billion budget since its adoption on April 9. Faced with declining revenue from Wall Street, Paterson has twice trimmed state agencies and reached agreement with lawmakers in August on $427 million in savings.
“These Read the rest of this entry »

INDIANAPOLIS – Power has been restored at St. Francis
Hospital on Indianapolis’ far south side after a power outage
forced the hospital to stop accepting patients for several hours.
St. Francis spokesman Joe Stuteville said the hospital returned
to normal operations shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday after operating
on backup power.
Indianapolis Power & Light spokeswoman Crystal Livers-Powers
says a line failure cut electricity to customers on the Read the rest of this entry »

Metabolic syndrome in adults occurs when they have at least three risk factors from among abdominal obesity (waist circumference more than 35 inches for women; 40 inches for men); low HDL (“good”) cholesterol; high triglycerides; high fasting glucose; and high blood pressure.
Although sometimes difficult to diagnosis in children, similar clustering can appear in childhood. The report, published online Jan. 12 in
, called for clinicians to measure Read the rest of this entry »

(Adds details, company comments)
NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Reuters) – U.S. drug wholesaler Cardinal
Health Inc (
CAH.N
) cut its fiscal year forecast on Thursday,
because delayed hospital spending is hurting equipment sales.
The weakness is coming in Cardinal’s clinical and medical
products segment, which Cardinal plans to spin off into a
separate company in the middle of 2009.
“With the delay in hospital capital spending, we expect
softness in our Read the rest of this entry »

) announced that it anticipates 2008 non-GAAP EPS to be no less than US$1.16, compared to prior outlook of US$1.16 – US$1.18 per share.
For 2008, Mindray now expects net revenues to be in the range of US$540 million – US$550 million, compared to prior outlook of US$550 million – US$560 million.
Analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial expect the company to report earnings of $0.98 per share on revenues of $550.15 million for fiscal 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, I had the privilege of sharing some frank and direct conversation with state legislators regarding the proposed cut to Maine’s hospital-employed physicians. As Eastern Maine Medical Center’s vice president and chief medical officer, I make sure that EMMC has the physician work force to provide specialty medical services for the northern two-thirds of Maine. That responsibility is weighing heavily on me as I contemplate the risks involved Read the rest of this entry »

Three years ago, Pawlenty vowed that all Minnesota children should have health care coverage. But an estimated 77,000 children (along with 300,000 adults) remain uncovered, and that number could skyrocket as moms and dads lose their jobs and their insurance. So it’s puzzling that Pawlenty’s main fix now is to cut tax rates on Minnesota corporations in half. Even if such a plan paid off in the long run with new jobs, it ignores the present crisis.
Read the rest of this entry »

Cuts in inpatient detoxification reimbursements of $96.9 million statewide would also hurt
in East Meadow and Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport, he said.
Daniel Sisto, president of the Healthcare Association of New York State, which represents hospitals and nursing homes statewide, said the proposed cuts would be especially painful since hospitals had already had two cutbacks of a total of $1 billion this year. “You can’t just keep coming Read the rest of this entry »

will lose 12 percent of its staff through a combination of layoffs, attrition and retirements. CHA will close six community health centers and will stop admitting patients overnight to
, although emergency services there will remain available. Officials there said the magnitude of current and future financing challenges, coupled with the soured economy have put their whole system in jeopardy, forcing the cuts.
“While extremely challenging Read the rest of this entry »

MONTPELIER — Gov. James Douglas made his opinion known Thursday during his presentation of the proposed 2010 state budget: Vermont cannot continue to afford its current level of health-care spending.
To bring financial stability to next year’s state budget, Douglas proposed a laundry list of possible changes to Vermont’s health-care programs. These include increasing premiums for state-sponsored insurance programs, cutting reimbursement rates for Read the rest of this entry »