Healthcare staffing

HMO, staffing and transportation mergers announced

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 06:59:55 -0400

The M&A market was busy this week, as HealthSpring, a Medicare Advantage HMO, agreed to purchase Leon Medical Centers Health Plans in Florida; a consortium of private equity firms led by Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group announced plans to combine Nursefinders and National Healthcare Staffing into a $350 million company; and Clarey Capital took over Los Angeles-based Health-Link Transportation Corp.

For details:
- Check out the Leon Medical Centers press release
- See the Goldman Sachs press release
- Read the Clarey Capital announcement

Study: Nurse turnover not highest priority

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:01:38 -0400

While nurse turnover can cost hospitals as much as $5.4 million per year, hospital executives typically are working harder on other issues, including quality improvement, reimbursement problems and uncompensated care, a new study shows. The Pricewaterhouse Cooper study, which included data from 237 hospital respondents, found nurse and physician staffing were sixth and seventh, respectively, on a list of key issues cited. On average, executives reported temporary nurses were staffing an average of 5 percent of hospitals' nursing hours.

To get more data from the study:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)

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Healthcare staffing firms poised for growth

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 20:01:36 -0400

The growing healthcare staffing shortage is nasty news for providers--but it should be great for the healthcare staffing industry. With the number of Americans aged 55 to 64 set to expand 40 percent by 2014, few observers expect provider recruitment to be able to keep pace. This is good news for healthcare recruiters, including giants like AMN Healthcare Services and Cross Country Healthcare. Of late, companies like these have gone through hard times, as hospitals cut staffing levels to a minimum in an effort to cope with falling reimbursement levels and flat admissions. But by 2020, the nursing shortage in particular could hit nearly 30 percent. As this trend gathers steam, expect the recruiting industry to rake in the bucks.

To find out more about this trend:
- read this Wall Street Journal piece

Related Articles:
New Orleans goes on international nurse hunt. Report
Study: Nursing shortage gap closing. Report
In Philly, health system attracts nurses. Report
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New Orleans goes on international nurse hunt

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:01:36 -0400

Hospitals in New Orleans are searching far and wide to fill major gaps in their nursing lineups, still struggling with shortages arising from mass departures after Hurricane Katrina. For example, Ochsner Medical Center-West Bank and West Jefferson Medical Center have been forced to fill the 100 vacancies at each hospital with contract workers from out of state. The two also share nurses to address labor shortages. The contract nurses, who work 12 to 13 week contracts, are an expensive but necessary part of doing business in the still-recovering city. To address this problem over the longer term, Ochsner hopes to bring 40 Filipino nurses on board; the Filipino nurses must agree to a three-year commitment if the system hires them. Also, both hospitals are working with nursing schools to bring in new recruits.

To find out more about the New Orleans nurse shortage:
- read this Times-Picayune piece

PLUS: The dean of Emory University's nursing school is sounding the alarm over the U.S. shortage of registered nurses, which could hit 800,000 by 2020. Article

Related Articles:
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Study says pay key to solving nurse shortage. Report
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In Philly, health system attracts nurses. Report

CT hospital CEO pay climbs rapidly

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:01:37 -0400

It's the usual story: hospitals say they are paying their CEOs what they feel they must, and consumers don't like the numbers. This time the tale is playing out in Connecticut, where a newspaper analysis of state CEO salaries has highlighted some big increases. Last year, eight Connecticut hospital administrators earned more than $1 million, according to an analysis of state data by the Hartford Courant. The highest paid was Middlesex Hospital CEO Robert Kiely, whose compensation has just about tripled over the past three years to about $1.9 million, including fringe benefits. The study also noted that where salaries didn't increase, fringe benefits have. Kiely, for example, got an extra $816,000 in his retirement fund last year, while Stamford Hospital CEO Brian Grissler saw his fringe benefits climb almost 400 percent, to $618,000. Board members of hospitals said that even within non-profits, these levels of pay and benefits are necessary to compete for top private-sector talent on a national level. Consumer advocates, meanwhile, argue that these salaries aren't appropriate when up to 400,000 people in the state don't have health insurance.

To get more data on Connecticut CEO pay:
- read this Associated Press piece

Related Articles:
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Study: Fewer medical students choose geriatrics

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:01:34 -0400

A new study has added to the growing concern over lack of geriatricians needed to care for a growing senior population. The study, done by researchers at the University of Cincinnati, projects that by the year 2030 roughly 70 million Americans will be older than 65. However, over the past 10 years the number of geriatricians has actually declined, from 8,800 to 7,100, with little to suggest that the trend will turn around. In fact, the percentage of students entering family medicine--which includes geriatrics as a sub-specialty--fell an alarming 6.3 percent. What's more, the study found that only two-thirds of geriatric fellowships were filled last year. Researchers said that the main issue driving the falling numbers of geriatricians is the relatively low salaries they can expect, but it doesn't help that elder care isn't considered very sexy either. "Most people think working with older adults is depressing," said study co-author Elizabeth Bragg.

To learn more about this trend:
- read this United Press International piece

Related Article:
Geriatrics MDs badly needed. Report

CO studies nurse role in quality of care

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 20:01:34 -0400

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter (D) has signed an executive order setting up a task force to examine the nursing profession's status in the state. The Nurse Workforce and Patient Care Task Force is looking at nurses' contributions to quality of care in healthcare facilities and the state's environment for nursing practice, as well as the accuracy of quality and staffing statistics. The task force will also consider ways in which new legislation might address the state's healthcare staffing shortage, which is projected to hit 17 percent by the year 2010 and by 31 percent by 2020. (The executive order floats a few ideas for such legislation, including incentives for nursing students to stay in the state, scholarships for nurse training and steps to retain already-employed nurses.) Participants on the task force will include representatives of the Colorado Hospital Association, Colorado Nurses Association, Colorado Medical Society, Colorado Department of Public Health and four state legislators.

To get more background on the initiative:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece (sub. req.)
- check out the governor's executive order (.pdf)

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Suit against CO hospital claims ethnic bias

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:01:36 -0400

A suit against public hospital system Denver Health continues to progress, with participants looking to potentially file a class action request shortly. The suit, which claims that Denver Health engages in routine discrimination against the ethnic minorities it employs, contends that the performance management system put in place by hospital CEO Dr. Patricia Gabow is part of the problem, as it allows the hospital's largely white corps of supervisors to use subjective evaluation criteria that can be swayed by cultural differences. The suit was originally filed by an African-American clinical psychologist, who asserted that among other things, she was forced to work out of a cubicle rather than the office her white colleagues used, and reported to a white supervisor with fewer professional qualifications than she had. The suit also asserts that if minority employees complain about discrimination, they face retaliation.

To get more background on the suit:
- read this Denver Post article

Related Article:
Study: Racial disparities persist in health outcomes. Report

Jesse Jackson joins CA hospital workers

Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:01:35 -0400

Rev. Jesse Jackson is throwing is considerable publicity-making powers behind union efforts to boost pay and restructure working conditions at Los Angeles-based Good Samaritan Hospital. The SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West has targeted Good Samaritan, which it says pays 40 percent less than other hospitals in the region, for a high-profile effort designed to force hospital executives' hand, including a Monday appearance by Jackson. The union says that executives have ignored caregivers' concerns about high turnover rates at the hospital, and have not updated their staffing ratios to protect patients. Good Samaritan, a 408-bed academic medical center affiliated with USC Keck School of Medicine, employs 467 SEIU members, roughly one-third of its 1,300 employees, so anything that motivates union members to take action could conceivably have some effect. Jackson has previously visited other California hospitals on a similar mission.

For more information on the union effort:
- read this SEIU press release

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Families choose unlicensed home care

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:01:35 -0500

With elderly patients increasingly dealing with major health issues at home, getting skilled home care in place has never been more important. Such care might cost $150,000 a year when provided by an agency offering bonded, insured and certified home health aides. But with Medicare limiting how much of such care it will pay for, few can afford these more-qualified helpers. Instead, middle-class families are turning to informal networks of unlicensed, untrained and unsupervised home care workers to care for fragile elderly patients. These gray market workers make perhaps $12 an hour, while agencies might charge $20 an hour for the same service. Elder care advocates are arguing for better training and peer mentoring programs to improve their judgment. But right now there seems to be only one training program in the country for gray-market aides, at the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education at the University of Arkansas. For $275, the school offers a 119-hour curriculum for independent home-care contractors.

To get more background on this trend:
- read this New York Times article

PLUS: Texas is considering a measure which imposes stricter limits on who elder care agencies and facilities can hire. Article

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