Former hospital worker changed with stealing 800 patient identities; Noisy hospitals disrupt healing process;

> Children's Hospital Oakland soon may be teaming up with the University of California San Francisco's Benioff Children's Hospital, reported The San Francisco Chronicle. The potential partnership, which is still in the early stages of talks, follows two other unsuccessful merger attempts made by Children's Hospital Oakland to seek assistance for its long-standing financial issues. Article

> Catholic officials at the Vatican approved a merger that will give Lowell (Mass.) General Hospital ownership of Saints Medical Center in Lowell, according to The Sentinel and Enterprise. This merger, which will allow Saints Medical Center to retain its Catholic identity, comes after more than a decade of unsuccessful attempts to gain approval from various Catholic leaders. Article

> Federal officials charged a woman with allegedly stealing the identities of 800 patients while working at Troy (Ala.) Regional Medical Center, reported the Dothan Eagle. The U.S. Attorney's Office alleges that the woman obtained confidential personal information from patient records and sold them as part of a tax fraud scheme. Article

> Two separate large-scale strikes took place on Thursday, hundreds of miles apart, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer. Hundreds of unionized Pennsylvanian hospital workers at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Hahnemann University Hospital, Temple University Health Systems and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia yesterday voted to authorize a strike, the same day about 100 nurses at Petaluma Valley Hospital (Calif.) staged a one-day walk-out, protesting cuts to on-call and stand-by pay, reported the Press Democrat.

> Researchers found further proof that noisy hospitals not only disrupt patients' sleep, but also their healing, according to data published in the June 19 print issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. A quieter hospital environment could cut down on readmissions and prevent complications, such as higher blood pressure and decreased immune function resulting from disturbed sleep. Article

And Finally… Bacon, it's what for dessert. Article