MEDICAL

Northeast Ohio Medical Industry and Hospital News

Wetlands worries may snag Clinic's Twinsburg expansion

by Chris Seper

Thursday August 21, 2008, 10:08 AM

Wetlands could stymie Cleveland Clinic plans in Northern Summit County, according to The Akron Beacon Journal.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency announced during a scheduled EPA hearing that it isn't "satisfied with the clinic's plans to protect high-quality wetlands and rare cold-water springs that feed small streams that drain to nearby Tinkers Creek, a major Cuyahoga River tributary," according to the Beacon.

The Clinic wants to build an outpatient medical center in Twinsburg -- a section of the region targeted by area hospital systems.

EPA staff members said they had "significant concerns" about the project, but also said the wetlands problems don't threaten the facility, according to the Beacon.

The Clinic told the newspaper that it was surprised by the agency's position and expected the project to move ahead. The Clinic needs the state EPA's approval.

Medicare releases hospitals' death rates for pneumonia, heart attacks and heart failure

by Joan Mazzolini

Wednesday August 20, 2008, 11:01 PM

Three hospitals in Northeast Ohio stand out for treatment of pneumonia, according to new data released by Medicare.

Hillcrest, Akron General and EMH Regional all had death rates for the illness below the 11.4 percent national average.

And among the 158 Ohio hospitals reporting to Medicare, one -- Fairview Hospital -- had a lower rate than the 11.1 percent national death rate for heart failure.

The information, released by Medicare, includes for the first time specific death rates for patients treated for pneumonia, heart attacks and heart failure.

The federal agency also has updated patient satisfaction reports for hospitals across the country, allowing people to find out how their hospitals compare.

Continue reading "Medicare releases hospitals' death rates for pneumonia, heart attacks and heart failure" »

Did you hear the one about the urologist and the tall building?

by The Scalpel

Wednesday August 20, 2008, 10:29 AM

Dr. Andrew Novick is a urologist. He couldn't resist.

The chairman of the Cleveland Clinic's Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute was giving a tour Tuesday of the soon-to-be opened Glickman Tower.

The building has state-of-the-art patient-tracking technology. It's got a mural that's 95-feet wide. It includes redesigned treatment rooms and cutting-edge dialysis care.

And it's now the tallest structure on the Clinic's campus - 13 feet higher than the adjacent Crile Building.

Novick had to go there.

"I'm a urologist," he explains. "You know what's on my mind all day.

"It's not the tallest building. It's the most erect building."

Forest City officials support Medical Mart but want fair deal

by Joe Guillen

Tuesday August 19, 2008, 3:39 PM

Forest City Enterprises should not be expected to drastically reduce the $40 million price tag on land at Tower City for the medical mart/convention center project, executives for the company said today.

The county and Forest City must agree on a price for the land before building the $536 million project at Tower City, which was the Greater Cleveland Partnership's recommended site.

County officials plan to hire an appraiser to put a value on the property before negotiations begin with Forest City.

Forest City CEO Charles Ratner acknowledged that Tower City will get a boost with a medical mart and convention center on the site. But selling the land will create other expenses for the company, including a new, $25 million parking facility to replace spaces lost through construction of the project.

"We certainly don't want to be the player that causes disruption," Ratner said.

Among its previous concessions, the company has offered to lease space to Cuyahoga County at the Higbee Building, which would house the medical mart, for $1 per year for 20 years.

County commissioners raised the sales tax a quarter-cent last summer to pay for the project. But revenue from the tax hike is only expected to cover $490 million of the estimated cost, which includes $40 million for the Tower City land.

Medical researchers have an endless need for willing and able subjects

by Joan Mazzolini

Tuesday August 19, 2008, 12:45 AM

Medical science needs you. Well, some parts of you, at least.

There's a lot of medical research going on in the Cleveland area. But sometimes there are not enough willing bodies to participate.

Doctors and researchers put a lot of effort into getting people to participate through radio, newspaper and TV ads. They put out fliers. They ask their patients. Lots respond, but many don't meet the criteria. And then, when researchers finally have participants, some disappear midway through the study.

Retired John Carroll University professor James Dague heard the call and responded. Dague, 70, has donated gallons of blood over the years, gave his DNA a decade ago and soon will be giving some skin in the name of science.

His mother had colon cancer, so he joined a national study on it about 12 years ago.

And Dague said he and most of his family have psoriasis, so a year ago he joined a local study on treatments for that. "All I know is they call and say, 'Hey I need your blood,' " Dague said about the University Hospitals psoriasis study.

Continue reading "Medical researchers have an endless need for willing and able subjects" »

Steris sells debt, raises $150 million

by Plain Dealer staff

Monday August 18, 2008, 7:46 PM

Steris Corp. raised $150 million by selling debt securities to private institutional investors. The Mentor company, which makes sterilization and decontamination equipment, sold $30 million of Series A-1 Senior Notes that pay 5.63 percent interest and are due to be repaid on Aug. 15, 2013.

The company sold $85 million of Series A-2 Senior Notes that pay 6.33 percent interest and are due Aug. 15, 2018. It sold $35 million of Series A-3 Senior Notes that pay 6.43 percent interest and are due on Aug. 15, 2020.

Steris said it would use the money it raised in the Friday sale for general corporate purposes, which include repayment of debt, capital expenditures, acquisitions, dividends and stock repurchases.

Steris shares fell 41 cents, or 1 percent, to close at $37.38 Monday.

In-store clinics please busy parents, concern pediatricians

by Angela Townsend and Diane Suchetka

Monday August 18, 2008, 4:48 PM

Lubee Rowell was on a vital mission this month -- to get updated information from her son's last physical exam in time for football practice, which started Aug. 11, and the first day back at Solon Middle School Tuesday, Aug. 26.

But Rowell didn't go to her family's pediatrician. Instead, she dashed in and out of a Walgreens on SOM Center Road in Solon.

She had taken her son, D.J., there in July for a physical that he needed before a football camp sponsored by the Cleveland Browns.

She had tried to get an appointment with her regular pediatrician. When that wasn't possible, she tried others in the area. Everyone said the same thing -- it would be four to six weeks before she could get D.J. in.

"We didn't have enough time," Rowell said. So she turned to the Take Care Health Clinic at the Walgreens near their home.

Continue reading "In-store clinics please busy parents, concern pediatricians" »

Medical radio: Australia plasma maker CSL the latest foreign firm to buy into U.S. health care

by Chris Seper

Monday August 18, 2008, 10:29 AM

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Download this week's review of health-care investments or listen below.

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Australia-based CSL's purchase of Talecris was the most notable health-care deal among last week's investments (pdf).

The acquisition combined the second-largest maker of plasma medicines, CSL, with the third largest for $3.1 billion.

BioEnterprise President Baiju Shah says the deal is another example of a foreign firm acquiring an American company -- a continuing trend bolstered by a weak dollar. "Five years ago you would see the reverse occurring as opposed to the foreign investor taking over the U.S. assets," Shah said.

This was largest health-care acquisition ever for an Australian firm, and with an American counterpart CSL will likely leap-frog regulatory barriers that had kept it out of the U.S. market.

The Plain Dealer's weekly summary of medical news

by Chris Seper

Monday August 18, 2008, 3:20 AM

Download this week's medical podcast, or listen below to The Plain Dealer's summary of weekly medical news. Click on the links that come after the audio player for more information on the stories.

Continue reading "The Plain Dealer's weekly summary of medical news" »

MRDD boards debate whether to keep 'mental retardation' in names

by Sarena McRae

Sunday August 17, 2008, 4:15 PM

Agencies across Ohio with the term "mental retardation" in their name are at a crossroads:

Do they change their name and reflect a national trend by dropping the words "mental retardation," or do they keep the term because the public, and especially voters, is familiar with it?

The issue gained attention last week when advocates for the developmentally disabled protested the opening of the action-comedy movie "Tropic Thunder" for repeatedly using what they called "the R word."

While 43 states have dropped the phrase, Ohio's state agency, the Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, remains committed to using it.

But 10 of the 88 Ohio county agencies have unofficially changed their names and now call themselves simply boards of developmental disabilities.

A debate has been going on behind the scenes among county agencies in Ohio for more than a year.

Continue reading "MRDD boards debate whether to keep 'mental retardation' in names" »

Medical Radio: Johns Hopkins Medicine News Roundup

by Chris Seper

Friday August 15, 2008, 3:15 PM

This week's Johns Hopkins Medicine News Roundup is up, discussing the latest in medical research and treatment.

Listen to the report below and check in to the Medical Radio section on the right-hand side that offers the Hopkins News Roundup and other medical broadcasts.

$22.6 million gift to transform heart, vascular care at University Hospitals

by Mary Vanac

Thursday August 14, 2008, 6:30 PM

Updated 9:55 p.m.

University Hospitals plans to use one of its largest gifts ever -- $22.6 million from a Northeast Ohio family -- to transform its heart and vascular institute into one of the top centers of academic and clinical excellence in the nation.

The gift from the Harrington-McLaughlin Family Foundation was announced to University Hospitals professionals and supporters Thursday evening. It will help cement Cleveland's role as an international leader in heart research and care.

For one UH doctor, the gift fulfills a long-held dream for a heart disease prevention program. For another doctor, it represents the power to recruit, retain and educate top-notch heart doctors and researchers and to expand heart-related research.

For Ronald G. and Nancy Harrington, who lead their family's foundation, the gift supports their doctor's work in heart disease prevention and could lead to world-changing discoveries by entrepreneurial doctors and researchers.

"This is a transformational opportunity for our clinicians and researchers and ultimately one that our patients will benefit from," said Tom Zenty, chief executive of University Hospitals. "It's the kind of thing that leaves you speechless."

Continue reading "$22.6 million gift to transform heart, vascular care at University Hospitals" »