Hospitals More Likely to Invest in Efficiency Than Other Industries

July 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Healthcare organizations are more likely to invest in energy efficiency upgrades and efforts at their facilities than other industries in North America, according to research from Johnson Controls Inc. and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering.

The organization and Johnson Controls’ Institute for Building Efficiency are reporting the findings (pdf) today at the ASHE Annual Conference and Technical Exhibition, which is being held in Tampa, Fla.

In a survey conducted earlier this year, 58 percent of the professionals with decision-making authority for healthcare facilities in North America said energy management is very or extremely important to their organization. By comparison, 52 percent of decision-makers for buildings across all sectors in North America said the same, the research for Johnson Controls and ASHE found.

Complementing the findings on attitudes toward energy efficiency, facilities decision-makers said they plan energy efficiency capital investments in the next 12 months — with respondents in the healthcare sector again making a stronger showing than their counterparts across industries: 62 percent in healthcare said they plan capital investments in energy efficiency over the next 12 months compared to 52 percent across North American industries.

The survey also found that respondents in the healthcare sector said they have already taken several steps to improve energy efficiency. Lighting retrofits topped the list as shown below.

The findings represent a segment of Johnson Controls’ broad annual survey on attitudes and efforts regarding energy savings called the Energy Efficiency Indicator. The poll of 2,882 executives and managers with authority over energy investment at facilities worldwide was conducted in March, and North American were results presented in April. The respondents included 288 professionals in the healthcare industry. The International Facility Management Association was a partner in the research in addition to Johnson Controls and ASHE.

The response from healthcare facilities leaders this year compared favorably to results from 2008, when the groups last published study findings on the industry. This year, 80 percent of the building executives in healthcare surveyed said they have a goal of achieving green building certification or incorporating green elements in new construction projects. Seventy-two percent reported the same in 2008.

As in other industries, the leading driver for energy efficiency in healthcare is cost savings with brand and image enhancement taking second place as a motivator, the survey found (see chart below).

Next Page: Perceived barriers, possible solutions and more.
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Capital constraints and concerns about return on investment were cited as the chief barriers to energy efficiency investment — reasons that generally top the list perceived impediments across industries.

However, the survey results indicate an opportunity for healthcare organizations as well as energy services companies.

Relatively few hospitals and healthcare firms are taking advantage strategies that allow them pursue upgrades with no upfront capital such as power purchase agreements, shared savings agreements and energy efficiency mortgages (see chart below).

More than three-quarters said they plan to tap their facilities capital budget instead of exploring other funding mechanism.

The report on the survey concluded that while perceptions and commitments toward energy efficiency are improving, energy services practitioners can go a long way toward helping the health care sector achieve its potential for high performance, high efficiency facilities.

“it is clear that good intentions are not enough to get these types of projects implemented on a large scale,” the report said.

“There are natural barriers to an efficient market that practitioners throughout the value chain are working to correct, and with the right mix of good policy, innovative technology and new financial structures, there is hope that the efficiency of the existing healthcare building stock can be dramatically increased.”

An executive summary of the report (pdf) is available from Johnson Controls Institute for Building Efficiency.

The survey results mark the most recent report on hospitals’ and healthcare organizations’ attitudes and efforts regarding environmentally responsibility. Other research findings released this year about the need to green the industry and coverage of measures taken thus far include:

Priorities: Cost vs. Sustainability — When purchasing equipment and materials, initial cost trumps consideration of sustainable features or life expectancy for the majority of healthcare professionals surveyed by the IFMA Health Care Council and the Corporate Realty, Design and Management Institute. The organizations released results in June of surveys given to attendees at five seminars on energy, economics, the environment and healthcare.

“Envisioning the High Performance Hospital” — Hospitals can reduce energy consumption by 60 percent, and a newly built, code-compliant facility can save about $730,000 a year by redesigning the way they use energy, according to research by the University of Washington’s Integrated Design Lab and healthcare architectural firm NBBJ. The study released in May at the 2010 CleanMed Conference in Baltimore was primarily funded by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance through its BetterBricks initiative.

Health and Green IT — Healthcare heavyweights Kaiser Permanente, Catholic Healthcare West, supply chain solutions provider Broadlane and the performance-oriented hospital group Premier announce that they are endorsing environmental standards for purchasing and managing IT equipment used in their industry. The declaration made at the annual CleanMed conference came none too soon: UK firm BridgeheadSoftware released global survey results in April showing that for the most part, green IT barely registers a pulse in healthcare.

Giving the OR a Heavy Dose of Green — Practice Greenhealth focuses on one of the largest waste-generating center in hospitals and launches its Greening the OR Initiative at the CleanMed conference.

Greening the Supply Chain — Kaiser introduces a green scorecard to its $1-billion supply chain for medical products. The largest HMO in the U.S. hopes that its best practices for the purchase of everything from gauze to MRIs will influence the industry.

Solar-Powered Hospitals — Kaiser launches a solar initiative. Its first wave involves installation of solar power systems totaling 15 megawatts at California facilities.

Greener Products — General Electric’s ecomagination line adds five new healthcare products in February: a new digital mammography platform; high-efficiency magnetic resonance systems; an enterprise software solution that enables healthcare operations to electronically record patient demographic and clinical information; a bioreactor system for vaccine and other biotherapeutics production that uses disposable bags instead of stainless steel tanks for cell culturing; and a bottle made from plastic instead of glass for contrast media, the substances that are used to make structures and fluids in the body more visible in x-ray and other imaging.

For more GreenBiz.com coverage on greening healthcare, see Thera Kalmijn’s articles “Healthcare Heal Thy Footprint” and “Pharma and Medical Supply Leaders’ Rx for Greener Operations.”

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Climate Corps 2010: Giving Healthcare Facilities an Efficiency Check-Up

July 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This summer, I have taken on a unique role as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading hospital operators. While most of the other 50 EDF Climate Corps fellows will spend the next couple months identifying energy efficiency opportunities in office buildings and data centers, I am the only one that will be working on healthcare facilities. Upon starting my fellowship, I quickly realized that everything is more complicated in healthcare facilities.

I spent the first week of my fellowship exploring and learning about my new industry. According to the American Hospital Association, there are 5,815 hospitals in the U.S. representing some 951,045 registered hospital beds. The average hospital uses 2.5 times the amount of energy as other commercial buildings, adding up to 836 trillion BTU’s or $5 billion annually, based on Department of Energy (DOE) data. Needless to say, energy efficiency represents a huge opportunity for hospitals and the healthcare industry.

Yet the “low-hanging fruit” of energy efficiency seems a bit further out of reach in an industry that lives and breathes by rules and regulations. Furthermore, it is clear that many beneficial measures have already been taken. In fact, I am not the first person from EDF to work with HCA. Just after I started, it was announced that HCA has saved $4.7 million in costs and 32,500 metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as part of the KKR and EDF Green Portfolio partnership program.

When I began looking at lighting retrofits, I realized that some hospitals are using more than 100 types of lamps and fixtures to manage lighting requirements in spaces as diverse as operating rooms, radiology rooms and nurseries. And that is on top of the standard office building spaces we learned about during our EDF Climate Corps training. Lighting timers and motion sensors are not easy solutions in buildings with 24-hour operation, not to mention potential issues with safety. You’ve probably had occupancy sensors turn off the lights while you were still in a bathroom, but imagine that happening in a surgery suite.

HVAC and ventilation also pose a problem. Some municipalities require hospitals to take in 100 percent outside air, a regulation that makes it much harder to efficiently heat or cool a space. This is especially true considering most of HCA’s hospitals are located in the country’s warmest climate zones. Maintaining the ventilation for infection control also means constantly monitoring pressure, humidity and air flow. Luckily, the scope of my project this summer does not involve other complex sustainability issues in healthcare, such as figuring out what to do about massive amounts of water use and medical waste.

Continuing my research, I have started to find new reasons for hope. Despite the challenges in energy efficiency for healthcare, I’ve been impressed by the efforts the industry has recently taken. The Green Guide for Healthcare (GGHC), the current standard in green building practices for hospitals, has been hard at work with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) developing a much-anticipated LEED for Healthcare rating system. Last year, the DOE got involved by launching the Hospital Energy Alliance, a collaboration of leading hospitals and industry associations to decrease hospital energy consumption. There are also other programs such as Energy Star for Healthcare, nonprofit organizations such as Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm, and conferences like CleanMed.

As I dive in to help find savings throughout HCA’s portfolio of more than 160 hospitals and 100 surgery centers, it is becoming increasingly clear that I am fortunate to be the lone fellow working in this exciting industry. The time for energy efficiency in the realm of healthcare has come, and I’m thrilled to be on the forefront.

Nick Fassler is an 2010 EDF Climate Corps fellow at HCA Healthcare and a Net Impact member. He is an MBA candidate at the Erb Institute, University of Michigan. This content is cross-posted at the Environmental Defense Fund Innovation Exchange Blog. Further coverage of the Climate Corps program is available at GreenBiz.com/edfclimatecorps.

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GECINA: Conditions for Accessing the Bond Base Prospectus

July 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

PARIS–(Business Wire)–
Regulatory News:

In order to diversify its sources of financing, Gecina (Paris:GFC) has filed
with the French securities regulator (Autorité des marchés financiers, AMF) the
base prospectus of Euro Medium Term Notes (EMTN) for a maximum amount of € 2
billions. The AMF granted its visa number 10-219 on July 5, 2010.

It may be consulted on or downloaded from the following internet sites:

* Gecina (www.gecina.fr), in the “Market transactions” section;
* AMF (www.amf-france.org).

It is also available free of charge to the public on request:

* by mail: Gecina – 16, rue des Capucines, 75002 Paris, France;
* by email: actionnaire@gecina.fr;
* by telephone: 0 800 800 976 (toll-free number only available in France).

The following documents are included in the Reference Document:

* the annual financial report for 2009;
* the Chairman`s report on corporate governance and internal control;
* the statutory auditors’ reports;
* information on the statutory auditors’ fees.

This press release does not constitute a subscription offer.

Gecina, far more than square meters

Gecina owns and manages a diversified portfolio of more than €11.3 billion of
commercial and residential real estate, as well as student residences, logistics
platforms, healthcare facilities and hotels.

The Gecina foundation

Through the commitment shown by its employees to each one of its customers,
Gecina`s strategy is founded on sustainable innovation. To uphold its
commitments, the Gecina Foundation is working to protect the environment and
support all forms of disability.

www.gecina.fr

French limited company (société anonyme) with share capital of 469,366,800.00
euros

Registered office: 14-16, rue des Capucines, 75002 Paris, France

Paris trade and company register: 592 014 476

GECINA CONTACTS
Laurence Chalmet
Tel: +33(0)1 40 40 52 22
or
Régine Willemyns
Tel: +33 (0)1 40 40 62 44

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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Border villages of Manipur , gateway for trade

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Chandel (Manipur), May 13 (ANI): The border areas of Manipur’s Chandel district, adjacent to Myanmar, function as a gateway to promote international border trade.

A visit to some of the remote villages in the area would indicate the important role played by them in the region.

Manipur, which occupies a stretch of 1,463-kilometres along the border with Myanmar, is considered the gateway for India”s trade with South East Asian neighbours.

Moreh town in Manipur, 110 km from capital Imphal, is an upcoming commercial hub under the ‘Look East Policy’.

The Central Government has undertaken construction of roads for better connectivity along the Indo-Myanmar border .

Construction of a bridge over the Khujairok River and work on border fencing are also underway.

“Twenty five items have been selected and short-listed under Indo-Myanmar border trade agreement. Another 15 items are bing added. Altogether, 40 items were selected as trade items……. Both the countries will be benefited. India will get things at cheaper price,” says Lunminthang Haokip, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Moreh

Another interesting place is Ngamkhai village. Surrounded by lush green mountains, it is predominantly inhabited by the Kuki tribe.

Main occupation of the villagers here is making charcoal, collecting timber from the forest and sand stones from riverbanks.

It is located close to Moreh, but still it lags behind in terms of development.

Limited healthcare facilities, insufficient water supply and erratic power supply are some of the problems faced by the villagers.

“Healthcare is practically nil. We depend on the primary health center, which is not properly set up. It lacks doctors, nurses and instruments,” said Ginsei Lhungdim, General Secretary, Hill Tribal Council

“We usually face water-shortage as we live at higher elevation. The supply that we receive doesn’t even last for half and hour and it is not enough for all of us,” said Tong Khongam, a local resident of Ngamkhai Veng Village.

Even though insurgency led violence is less in the area as compared to other parts of Manipur, there are frequent economic blockades and shutdowns.

According to Lunminthang Haokip, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Moreh, practical problems are there. The road between Pallen and Moreh is not good. Moreover, other problems like bandhs and economic blockades hamper trade.

Villagers believe that the suspension of operation agreement signed between the Center and the Kuki National Front (KNF) has considerably reduced militancy in the region.

“There is no of violence by Valley or tribal Underground group, following the signing of Suspension of Operations agreement,” said Ginsei Lhungdim, General secretary, Hill Tribal Council.

It is hoped that with proper development of infrastructure, the immense business potential of these border villages can be realized that will transform the lives of the villagers. (ANI)

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Hospital urges simple hand wash to cut infections

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Royal Hobart Hospital is marking Global Hand Hygiene Day by asking its visitors to ensure their hands are clean.

The hospital says hand hygiene is the most effective way to reduce and prevent the spread of infectious diseases, like gastroenteritis and influenza.

Spokeswoman Sue Draycott says it is estimated that each year 1.4 million people worldwide suffer infections caught while in health care.

“In Australia alone there are over 200,000 hospital acquired infections annually, just in acute care hospitals.”

“The majority are preventable if we just performed hand hygiene when we should. In Tasmania we’re talking about over 2,000 a year,” she said.

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Ballarat on track for Melbourne link

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Ballarat will get a direct rail line to Melbourne as part of the Regional Rail Link being funded through the Victorian budget, which was announced yesterday.

A total of $4.3 billion has been allocated to the Regional Rail Link, which is the single biggest project in the state budget.

The project will create stand-alone tracks to Melbourne from Bendigo, Geelong and Ballarat.

Ballarat council’s chief executive, Anthony Schink, says the investment is needed to help Ballarat cope with population growth.

“The intention of linking the regional centres with Melbourne is clearly a recognition of the growth that we are experiencing,” he said.

Mr Schink says the line will help to make the fast-train service even quicker.

“What we’ve seen is investment in the fast train, investment in improving the infrastructure to get people to and from Melbourne quicker,” he said.

“But the blockage has always been the lack of dedicated lines when the trains hit the metro system.”

The budget also includes $2 million for intersection upgrades on the Ballarat to Buninyong Road at Mt Clear.

Health boost

Coleraine hospital in the state’s south-west has been secured in the budget and a new $25.2 million will be built in the town.

The Western District Health Service will contribute a further $600,000.

The health service’s chief executive, Jim Fletcher, says the hospital will include 10 new acute patient beds, 29 residential beds and a community health clinic.

“The tight-knit community will be over the moon with respect to this announcement,” he said.

“It is a great boost for Coleraine and what it does is ensure that they will have a health presence in their township for 50 years and beyond.”

Two western Victorian primary schools have also had their futures secured in the budget.

The Halls Gap and Woady Yaloak primary schools are two of six that will share in $10.5 million.

Woady Yaloak’s principal, Alan Campbell, says the money will help redevelop the ageing Smythesdale campus.

“In recent years the nature of teaching has changed – we’re much more flexible in the way we use space as part of our teaching methodology now,” he said.

“By adding these modern teaching spaces we’ll be able to provide a much more invigorating learning experience for our kids.”

A new police station at Daylesford has been allocated $2 million.

Highway loses out

But the Colac-Otway Council is shocked the budget contained no funding to upgrade the western section of the Princes Highway.

The G21 group of south-west Victorian councils had asked the Government to upgrade and duplicate the highway from Geelong to the South Australian border.

The budget included funding to upgrade the highway’s Gippsland section.

The Colac-Otway Mayor, Lyn Russell, says she expected the western part would be included.

“We were hoping it would be in this budget and we’ll be asking the question why it isn’t,” she said.

“It’s a very important transport link and we do need it.

“It’s not only for safety but the road has deteriorated over the years and so we’ll need to look at it and we’ll need to know why it wasn’t funded.”

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More dengue cases in far north Qld

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Four new cases of dengue fever have been diagnosed in far north Queensland.

A resident north of Tully and three people in the town have contracted locally-acquired cases of the disease.

A dengue fever outbreak was declared in Tully in February, when three people were diagnosed with type-two dengue.

Queensland Health says it is likely the most recent cases are linked to the earlier outbreak.

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Goulburn Murray schools share in budget spend

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Goulburn Murray region schools were the biggest winners in yesterday’s Victorian budget.

The Victorian Government announced $230 million for school buildings and equipment in the budget.

It includes $1.5 million to rebuild the Toolamba Primary School which was badly damaged by fire in February.

There is funding to keep the Tawonga Primary School open and improvements to those at Euroa, Mansfield, Mount Beauty, Myrtleford and Tallygaroopna.

Visitor facilities at the Mount Buffalo chalet will also be improved and an Indigenous dance academy will be established in Mooroopna.

A total of $2 million will be spent planning the future needs of courts including those at Shepparton and Wangaratta.

The Government will also commit $136 million for fire and emergency services.

But Dr Harry Hemley from the Australian Medical Association says there is no mention of funding in the state budget for the Albury-Wodonga Health Service.

He says the Victorian Government is required to contribute its share of money to running the health service.

Dr Hemley says the Government also needs to better plan for growing demand on health services into the future.

“We’re growing at 100,000 people a year, we need to have a plan and how we’re going to address that growth,” he said.

“In the plan you would have things like the Albury-Wodonga cross border arrangement and all of the small hospitals and how they’re going to fit into it.

“That’s what I mean when I say we need a vision for the future – we need a plan for the future.”

Meanwhile, regional police stations have been granted $10 million for improvements, including money to buy land for a new police station in Echuca.

Campaspe Mayor Peter Williams says it has been a long time coming.

“It is very much a run-down facility and it’s undersized and it certainly doesn’t deliver what the police need to deliver – best quality service,” he said.

“It’s exciting that they’ve identified they’re going to purchase land to build the new station and we hope that that will now roll on to a new police station in the next few years.”

The Liberal Member for Benambra, Bill Tilley, says he is disappointed no money has been allocated to expand the Wodonga police station, which is overcrowded.

“We’ve heard the former chief commissioner of police talking about how she’s been working with this Government about the extensions for the Wodonga police station,” he said.

“[But] no certainty and no time line has been given or any money has been committed to Wodonga police station.”

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Hospitals unhappy with budget snub

May 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

North-west Victorian hospitals say they are disappointed what they say were modest requests for upgrading work were ignored in the state budget.

The focus of the regional health budget was on Bendigo, which is getting a new $450 million hospital.

But there was none of the new money requested for improvement work at Mildura, Swan Hill, Edenhope and Warracknabeal.

The Mildura Base Hospital chief executive, Dane Huxley, says he asked for less than $5 million.

“There’s been no infrastructure development at this hospital since it opened in 2000, so that’s really 10 years with nothing happening at all and we felt that we had a very good case for modest enhancements to the building in the emergency department, the maternity unit and the mental health unit,” he said.

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Aged care nurses feeling the pressure

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The aged care sector is grappling with a crisis and those on the front line are speaking out.

Nurses say mistakes are being made and it is only a matter of time before there is a major incident.

The Nursing Federation has highlighted the pressure on the system with a case in which a graduate was left in charge of a nursing home in her first week on the job.

There is now a vicious circle in the industry. Nursing homes are being forced to cut costs. In turn, that is forcing an exodus of staff who have reached breaking point, unable to cope with the increasing pressure.

The ANF says nursing home residents are not getting optimum care and carers are taking on roles they’re not properly trained in because there aren’t enough nurses.

Some homes have had only one registered nurse in charge of up to 120 residents on a night shift.

In others, enrolled nurses and carers on night shifts can only access a registered nurse over the telephone.

The Federation’s Tasmanian secretary Neroli Ellis says nurses are despairing.

“Nurses who are passionate about aged care are leaving because they can’t bear the stress any more,” she said.

“They worry there’ll be a major trauma because of under-resourcing.

“They don’t even see all of their residents during the shift they’re on because they’re so busy.”

Tasmania has the nation’s oldest population. A third of the state’s residents will be over 65 by the year 2046.

Ageing workforce

There is further concern as the nurses themselves get older. Their average age is 55.

Ms Ellis says once they retire, there are limited replacements in an industry not equipped to take on nursing graduates.

“It’s the worst place possible for them…aged care facilities are really down to bare bones so there isn’t the clinical support for graduates.”

“Those who do go into it rarely stay.”

Management is also feeling the strain.

About 70 per cent of nursing homes are operating at a loss, with most run by not-for-profit groups who cannot keep up with rising health care costs.

Four of the state’s aged care facilities have closed in the past three years and a proposal for a secure dementia unit in the state’s north-west was withdrawn.

Aged care provider Eliza Purton recently shed 20 jobs because of a $1.5 million loss.

Tasmanian care providers have held a crisis meeting to consider mergers, creating regional management systems and sharing staff.

Cliff Partridge runs two nursing homes at Deloraine in the state’s north.

He has had to increase bed numbers and the bonds paid by residents to curb a $700,000 loss over the past three years.

“Our costs are rising faster than inflation and standards of care are increasing all the time because of public demand and standards applied by the Federal Government,” he said.

“There’s a limited number of nurses and we struggle to have nurses on call so what happens is we tend to put a lot of pressure on the nurses working longer hours.”

“The real issue in aged care is a shortage of nurses and that’s very difficult to get around.”

Darren Matthewson from Aged and Community Services says its crunch time.

The sector can’t wait any longer for more Federal Government funding and without it more nursing homes will close.

“If it continues what it will mean is that facilities won’t be able to operate, they will close, services will be diminished,” he said.

“People certainly in outlying areas will not have access to those services where they live and they will have to move out which means that families and communities will not have their elderly close to them.”

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Rudd announces health funding in CQ

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Prime Minister says the future of health is a system that’s funded nationally but run locally.

Kevin Rudd has told Gladstone health workers, local control will focus on areas of need.

He has announced around $3-million will be made available to create clinical training placements for regional areas, including Gladstone.

“What we’re proposing is a system that is funded nationally but run locally but run locally so that here in regional Queensland you can make more and more local decisions about the priorities that you have here,” he said.

“And we the Australian Government will be funding local hospital networks directly, that’s the big change for the future.”

Mr Rudd also announced $67 million to provide a range of cancer services at the Rockhampton Hospital.

“It means that we’re going to be able to ensure that we have the commissioning of three radio therapy bunkers, the construction of a third bunker, 16 chemotherapy chairs, this will enable us to provide more comprehensive cancer care here,” he said.

Victoria Bradshaw from Cancer Council Queensland says the new facilities will reduce the need for cancer patients to travel to Brisbane.

“People within our region, Rockhampton and the surrounding region can actually get the care that they need close to home surrounded by their family and friends,” she said.

“So it’s a pretty stressful time a cancer diagnosis and indeed living with cancer so to have these treatment facilities on our door step it really is tremendous news.”

Queensland Health’s central region Chief Executive says she’s delighted with the funding contributions the Federal Government is making to regional healthcare.

Doctor Coralee Barker says the extra funding announced by the Prime Minister will purchase much needed equipment.

“The announcements that are happening throughout central Queensland and indeed all of Australia, is fabulous,” she said.

It’s a huge injection, a major shot in the arm and we’re very grateful so we’ve been looked after quite well.

“We had the MRI and now the cancer centre and of course the announcement for Gladstone.”

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Roxon defends no cancer centre funding

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has defended the Government’s decision not to fund a cancer centre in Albury-Wodonga.

The Government instead announced $6.5 million for an accommodation facility and a diagnostic scanner.

But the Border Cancer Network wanted money to build a cancer centre that would give country people better access to treatment.

Ms Roxon says there could be funding opportunities under other health programs.

“Well certainly if they talk to communities in Ballarat or Gippsland or elsewhere, often work is done over many, many years to be able to put forward applications that might comply with future programs,” she said.

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Bendigo Health unsure of cancer funding amount

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Bendigo Health has confirmed it has been granted Federal Government funding for cancer services in central Victoria, but says it is not sure how much money it will get.

In a statement, the health provider says it believes it will get $1 million for patient and carer accommodation.

Bendigo Health says it is hoping to meet the Government to discuss the funding.

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Nurses say cuts will harm patient care

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Australian Nursing Federation is concerned about a proposal to reduce nursing hours at the North-West Private Hospital in Burnie.

The Federation’s branch secretary in Tasmania, Neroli Ellis says hospital management has advised the union it needs to cut several nursing and midwifery positions after a decline in births and surgery.

Ms Ellis says her members fear it will compromise patient care.

“Our concern and the nurses’ concern at this stage is that the proposed cuts are going to end up going too far,” she said.

“They’re actually proposing to leave one nurse each shift in the surgical unit which will compromise not only in care, and not only in their own duty of care, but obviously put patients at risk.”

“[They] are more concerned with them at the moment than the prospect of their jobs.”

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NSW Govt urged to back health shake-up

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A New South Wales mid-north coast federal MP is urging the State Government to support the national heath and hospitals reform plan.

The appeal was made to NSW Health Minister Carmel Tebutt in Port Macquarie yesterday.

The Minister was opening an expansion of the base hospital’s emergency department.

Independent Lyne MP Rob Oakeshott met Ms Tebbutt and told her that the proposed structural and financial reforms were good for the mid-north coast.

“For a growing regional area this structural and financial reform on the table to date works for us and will address many of the issues that confront us,” he said.

“We do have a bed shortage and we’re not going anywhere fast until we address that.

“So in the short-term if we can get more beds we’ll maximise what is being proposed at a federal level.”

Mr Oakeshott asked for the state to make short-term capital investments in extra hospital beds.

“The slight expansion of the emergency department it is yet another step along the way to getting significant increases in bed numbers,” he said.

“But we all want the structural and financial reform that’s happening at the moment in the Commonweath/state debate to really be maximised on the ground.”

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Opposition calls for release of hospital performance data

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The State Opposition is accusing Premier John Brumby of secretly withholding damaging information on Victoria’s health system.

Mr Brumby has released his own plan for an overhaul of national health policy, which he says is better than the the Federal Government’s proposed takeover.

But opposition health spokesman, David Davis, has slammed Mr Brumby’s calls for transparency.

He is questioning why the State Government has not released any hospital performance data for the second half of last year.

“Where are those figures and why is Mr Brumby so slow to release them,” he asked.

“With the exception of South Australia, that’s had an election, Victoria’s the only state that’s failed to release the figures for the first half of the financial year across the country.”

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Medical training centre promises region-wide benefits

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Mackay Division of General Practice says it welcomes the announcement of a new $1.1 million medical training facility at the Mater Hospital.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the project in Mackay yesterday as part of the Federal Government’s proposed health system shake-up.

The facility will be run by James Cook University, providing 98 medical, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy and physiotherapy student training places.

The chief executive of the division, Christian Grieves, says the project will benefit the whole region.

“Getting students to come in and work in an area makes it much more likely that in the long-term they will stay in that place or some place that’s very similar,” he said.

“If we’re getting them into Mackay it also increases the chances that they might go to places like Sarina, Proserpine, Cannonvale, [or] Moranbah.”

Mr Grieves says he understands that resources are limited.

“If we’re going to train people we need places for them to train but in terms of delivering, or opportunities to deliver more services then that’s either going to have to come out of the private sector or out of government and I guess we’re still waiting to see just how much of that’s going to come,” he said.

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Roxon dismisses Brumby’s health plan

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Federal Government says it cannot agree to some of Victoria’s demands for changes to the Commonweath’s health plan.

Victorian Premier John Brumby wants a 50-50 funding split without any changes to the GST revenue.

He says the current offer is not good enough.

“There is no new money in this for Victoria. There is no new money in their so called 60-40 proposition,” he said.

But Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon says Treasury modelling shows the Victorian plan would cost the Commonwealth an extra $150 billion over the next decade, assuming it also took full funding responsibility for primary health.

“We don’t think Premier Brumby’s funding request is realistic,” she said.

The Federal Government’s health and hospitals plan takes a leaf out of Victoria’s book by setting up local health networks and shifting to activity-based funding, paying the efficient price of every public hospital service to public patients.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is continuing his hospital visits, distributing millions for cancer services and spruiking his plan.

Behind the scenes, the Federal Government talks as if it has health reform in the bag. Publicly, the Prime Minister is keeping up the tough talk.

“As Prime Minister I was elected with a mandate to deliver better health and hospital services for all Australians and I would just urge John [Brumby] to work with the Australian Government because state governments cannot afford to fund this system for the future,” he said.

“The Australian Government must be the dominant funder for the future.”

State and territory leaders are due to meet in a week-and-a-half to decide whether to support the Federal Government’s proposal.

Ms Roxon will travel to Tasmania this morning to explain the plan to the caretaker Premier, David Bartlett and the leader of the Tasmanian Greens.

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Therapy pool closure affecting patients

April 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A patient who uses the hydrotherapy pool at the Broken Hill Base Hospital, says the pool’s closure will mean many of its users will end up in a nursing home.

The pool which sees about 60 patients, closed last week due to a lack of qualified physiotherapy staff to assist patients.

Annette Minchin travels from Menindee to use the pool and says there needs to be less administration staff at the hospital and more people able to provide a hands-on service.

Ms Minchin says she will have to treat herself now in un-ideal conditions.

“When I come into Broken Hill I can go to the North Pool, but getting in and out of the pool is a bit difficult and the temperature of the water is not really conducive to a medical benefit. With arthritis, the cool hurts.” she said.

“So I will do that to keep moving, i’ll keep going.”

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Liberal leader to be briefed on health and hospital plans

April 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Health Minister Nicola Roxon says the Federal Government will do its best to brief the Liberal leader Will Hodgman on the proposed shake-up of the health system.

The government is threatening to begin the process for a referendum on the changes if no agreement can be struck with the States at a meeting within a fortnight.

Mr Hodgman could become Tasmania’s next premier on Wednesday when Labor attempts to give up power.

Ms Roxon says she wants to make sure the Liberal leader’s properly briefed about the health proposal as early as possible.

“To assess the interest of the Tasmanian population in signing up to this deal and the Prime Minister and I will both be meeting with him at a time that is suitable to him,” Ms Roxon said.

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