Nurses strike looms at New York Hospital Queens in Flushing

A Queens hospital could soon be facing a strike by more than 700 of its registered nurses after a new round of contract talks hit an impasse, the Daily News has learned.

New York Hospital Queens in Flushing and 722 of its registered nurses returned to the bargaining table April 22, following a cooling-off period that elected officials brokered in February to avert a planned three-day strike.

But the latest round of talks appear to have broken off after a committee of nurses - whose contract expired Oct. 31 - walked out of a bargaining meeting Friday.

"The committee was just disgusted," said Clare Thompson, who is leading the negotiations for the nurses' union, 1199 SEIU.

"They just got tired of management saying, 'No. We don't have anything,' even though it's just crumbs left on the table right now."

The impasse comes amid a wave of school closings in Queens, which has emerged as the epicenter of the nation's swine flu outbreak.

Prior to the planned three-day strike in February, the hospital had signed a contract to provide fill-in nurses.

Hospital spokesman Scott Sieber would not say whether it had done so this time around, saying only, "We consider this to be an active negotiation and we are looking forward to coming to a resolution."

However, Thompson said the union has not scheduled another meeting with hospital management.

The union has yet to ask members to vote on whether to strike, she said, though it began polling nurses Tuesday to see what they say the next move should be.

She refused to say whether she thought a strike was imminent.

In the initial round of talks, the union had asked hospital management to contribute toward pension and benefits funds - arrangements already provided to about 700 service workers at the hospital, Thompson said.

The union has since dropped that demand, but the sticking point appears to be the length of the contract.

The hospital wants five years, but the union wants only three, Thompson said.

Following the closure of two Queens hospitals in March due to bankruptcy, New York Hospital Queens saw patient volume jump by some 150 visits per week, CEO Stephen Mills had previously said.

When the swine flu outbreak first hit last month, Mills said hospital volume increased by an additional 100 to 120 patients per day.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/05/20/2009-05-20_nurses_strike_looms_at_ny_queens_hosp.html#ixzz0vuxifXj2

One Cheer for Socialized Medicine

Ezra Klein writes about what “socialized medicine” would really look like:

    Socialized medicine is a system in which the government owns the means of providing medicine. Britain is an example of socialized system, as, in America, is the Veterans Health Administration. In a socialized system, the government employs the doctors and nurses, builds and owns the hospitals, and bargains for and purchases the technology. I have literally never heard a proposal for converting America to a socialized system of medicine. And I know a lot of liberals.

Not that I think we should make this a near-term legislative priority, but I actually think there’s a very strong case on the merits for a limited form of socialized medicine. Which is to say that I think it would be smart for the government to directly provide a certain class of relatively cheap, not-very-interesting preventive services. You would have clinics in neighborhoods where medical personnel (mostly nurse-practitioners and dental hygenists, I would think) directly employed by the government could provide things like vaccinations, regular tooth cleaning, prostate exams, etc. Obviously, you would want actual medical doctors and public health researchers to determine what the appropriate list of services is rather than a blogger. But the general aim would be to identify a list of preventive health services where it’s not desirable for people to be economizing and then we’d bring the services to the people directly as a public service. And the upshot would be a kind of National Health Service but not one that, UK-style, aspires to comprehensively meet all medical needs. Instead, it would have a limited mission to provide basic preventive care.

Now needless to say, we’re not going to build a system like that. But we can try to make sure that health reform strengthens the position of community health centers that do some of this kind of stuff.

Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital completes $40 million expansion

The Louisiana Medical Center & Heart Hospital near Lacombe will open on Wednesday its $40-million expansion, a four-story addition that triples the facility's bed capacity and signals to north shore residents that it is a general acute-care hospital, not just a heart hospital.

Staff members say the 109,000-square-foot expansion will allow the hospital to further meet the needs of St. Tammany Parish's enlarged post-Hurricane Katrina population, a surge that spurred the hospital to begin "generalizing" its services several years ago, expanding itself beyond the cardiac and spinal-care specialties that had been its sole purview when it opened in February 2003.

Lynne Black, the hospital's director of business development, said the addition's bells and whistles, such as a new outpatient reception area on the first floor "will allow quicker through-put, helping patients get to see their doctors and get out faster."

The hospital's emergency room director, Dr. Lloyd Gueringer, said the wait for emergency care is much less than at other St. Tammany Parish facilities. That fact coupled with the expansion - which increases the number of emergency room beds from 10 to 20 - should draw more patients to the hospital, he said.

Gueringer said they are less busy, in part, because the community still thinks of the facility as solely a heart hospital.

"I think there's a big misconception that all we do is cardiac care," Gueringer said.

Originally named the Louisiana Heart Hospital, it has since re-christened itself the Louisiana Medical Center and Heart Hospital to better reflect its more generalized focus.

The newly completed expansion supports a corporate-wide effort by MedCath, the Charlotte, N.C.-based health care company that operates the hospital, to bolster its non-heart acute care services.

New operating rooms, holding and recovery beds and radiology facilities - complete with a new MRI machine - along with the new waiting area and emergency room will be located side-by-side in the expanded facility, allowing easier interplay between the various sections, according to Glenda Dobson, the hospital's vice president of clinical services.

The original hospital building is two stories and 101,000 square feet, so the expansion more than doubles its size.

It adds patient rooms to the new unit's second, third and fourth floors, increasing the hospital's capacity from 58 to 177 rooms.

While the hospital will only open on Wednesday the 39 patient rooms on the second floor, it now has the proper licensing and space to open an additional 40 rooms on its third floor at any time. It also has the 40 more rooms on the fourth floor whenever increased patient loads justify applying for the additional licensing required, according to staff members.

The only services the hospital does not now offer are obstetrics and pediatrics. O. Edwin French, the president and chief executive officer of MedCath Corp., has said that if demand later warrants those specialties, "we will certainly have the space to do that."

French also has said the tripling of the Lacombe facility's capacity would make it the largest MedCath facility in the nation and that the expansion would help the surrounding area, boosting the development of the Louisiana 434 corridor. The hospital is on Louisiana 434, just north of Interstate 12.

While bemoaning the current unstable economy and proposed cuts to hospitals by the state Legislature, Louisiana Hospital Association President John Matessino said during an interview on Thursday that the north shore is a unique economic climate for hospitals, one that has been cushioned by its post-Hurricane Katrina population surge.

In terms of the Lacombe hospital, Matessino added that its push towards generalization also makes sense in that context, "to be a more full-service hospital for the people who are moving to the area."

The St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington is planning a $60 million expansion "to meet the growing demand for healthcare in St. Tammany Parish and surrounding areas," according to its literature. It will expand its bed capacity from 237 to 321 by adding fifth and sixth floors with 42 rooms each, its literature states.

Black, the Lacombe hospital's business development director, speculated that perhaps the larger percent of baby boomers on the north shore, and their aging, will lead to continued demand for hospital services in the area.

The Lacombe hospital had been owned 49 percent by physicians and 51 percent by MedCath Corp., but as MedCath paid for the recent expansion, the physicians now only own 10 percent, staff members said.

Benjamin Alexander-Bloch can be reached at bbloch@timespicayune.com or 985.898.4827.

Iowa Heart Center and Mercy

Iowa Heart Center  and Mercy combine the region’s leading cardiologists and surgeons with the state’s leading cardiovascular hospital.

Video LinkIts aim is to provide a seamless system of heart and vascular care for Mercy patients and their families, from screenings and outpatient clinic visits to advanced hospital care and rehabilitation.

As the largest cardiac provider in Iowa, Iowa Heart Center and Mercy continue to be leaders in clinical heart research. Patients are able to take advantage of the latest, leading-edge therapies—including new drugs, medical devices and surgical procedures.

Pediatric CardiologyProviding the safest, most advanced care for our smallest heart patients
Iowa Heart Center and Mercy offer central Iowa’s only pediatric heart surgery program. Pediatric cardiologists from Pediatric Cardiology P.C., working with Iowa Heart Center surgeons, perform 100 heart surgeries each year on children, many in their first year of age.

Pregnancy - Delivery Time! Packing For Your Hospital Stay

Having a baby is an exciting time in any woman's life. One important thing is having a bag packed and ready for your stay at the hospital. Many women only stay a night or two if they are having a natural childbirth; however, if you need a c-section, you can expect to spend about five nights in the hospital. You need to pack what you will need for your labor including your birth plan, if you have one.

Here are some things you should pack in your bag:

o Toiletries, including toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush, shampoo and conditioner. The hospital supplies soap, toilet paper and towels.
o Snacks - you only get meals at the hospital and they are not always nutritious or filling, so bring some nutritional snacks to sustain you between meals.
o Crossword books and magazines to read and keep you entertained.
o Pajamas, you only get a smock at the hospital;
o Clean underwear - many pairs;
o Slippers;
o Socks
o Comfy lounge pants;
o Lip balm
o Pillows;
o Digital camera or camcorder;
o Clothes for the baby including a few changes of jimmies, a hat and socks or booties and a car seat;
o Bra pads for breast milk leakage;
o Super absorbent pads, because you bleed heavily for about two weeks after child birth;
o Something to tie your hair up with if you have long hair;
o Comfortable shoes to wear home;
o iPod loaded up with your favorite music;
o Diapers for baby - the hospital gives you an allotment each day, so If you need more, you should bring extras.
o Something to wear home - don't expect to fit into your skinny clothes after child birth, it's not going to happen. Bring something comfortable like a sweatshirt and sweat pants.
o Thank you cards - if you had your baby shower before you went to the hospital, you could spend some time writing out your thank you cards while baby is sleeping;
o Any medications you are currently taking;
o Laptop

If you are only having a short stay at the hospital, you most likely won't need most of these things on the list. Picture yourself at the hospital and make a list before you pack. Think of what items you will most likely need or want and go from there. Most hospitals will provide you with small storage cupboard for your personal items. Don't leave valuables in the cupboard, have your partner take them home for you - wallet, id, credit cards, etc.

Elysse Biaca has been writing articles on a wide range of topics. Come and visit her latest post providing information on selecting Color Changing Lights, in particular several models of a Color Changing Lamp made by Philips.

Pleasant Bed in the Hospital

Most of the patients absolutely need the comfortable hospital bed that really influences their healing process. If they have a pleasant bed in the hospital, they would never feel stuck in the hospital. Even though many people think that living in the hospital would be a miserable experience, but you could make an easy effort by decorating the hospital bed into a wonderful place to stay.

Commonly, to create a great decoration of the bed in your hospital, you need to apply some bright colors and cheerful decor into a dreary room. Some tips below would lead you to the effective way to decorate an amazing bed in the hospital that extremely needs a minimal cost. It would be efficient because it is something that could afford to do on a budget.

Step 1

The first thing you should do is choosing vibrantly colored linens and putting it onto the bed. It would be really great if you choose the solid, bright colors or sheets with a pleasant pattern. In addition, you have to consider the frequently of the staff of the hospital would might change the sheets and how often they have the extra sets on hand. You need to add a hypoallergenic linens if your patients have some allergy problems.

Step 2

Next, you could add a comfort pillows into the bed. The regular pillows that include two throw items would be suitable for the patients because they usually have a small size. The small size pillows are eligible for the patients because they could help the patients especially who require to safe a limb elevated for a long period.

Step 3

To create a cheerful atmosphere, it is possible for you to apply stuffed animals on the bad. It does not mean that this decoration is specifically for children, because in fact some adults are also love animals as well. Stuffed animals could offer comfort especially when the patients feel unpleasant.

No matter the age of the patients, the pleasant atmosphere with animal decor would really change their feeling. To avoid the crowded impression on the hospital bed, you should select the appropriate animals. Put only the small one on the bed so that they would disturb their comfort.

Step 4

Choose using a throw cover the bed which usually is really amazing with a colorful image on it. It would be really attractive and most patients love the cover with image better than the regular one. A certain image such as a famous football team image would be the cheerful thing for a patient who is a fan of it. This cheerful atmosphere would lead the patients into the most comfortable please as well as at home.

Step 5

Such an attractive picture onto the headboard would really be amazing, especially if you keep the picture nearby. It extremely could please the patients who could not see the pictures that too far. The power of pictures is really great because it could motivate the patients to go struggle against their disease. It could remind them about the support and love they have got during their healing process in the hospital.

Preparing some high technology medical office equipment in your hospital or clinic would be really useful for your patients. However it is the time for you to find information about medical office supplies and massage table heating pad.

Dr Foster health & medical guides

Dr Foster health & medical guides
Take control of your health

Dr Foster is the UK's leading provider of comparative information on health and social care services.

Dr Foster's online tools and consumer guides enable both health and social care users and providers to make better informed decisions.

Dr Foster produces unique consumer guides to health services, the first of which was published in 2001 - the first time that comparative adjusted death rates for all NHS hospital trusts had ever been published.

The mortality data is produced by the Dr Foster Unit at Imperial College, Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios (HSMRs) are now also published on Dr Foster's Hospital Guide.