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Monday, June 3, 2002
Speaker, OHA Look to the Future of Health Care
In a keynote speech today at OHA’s annual meeting, Joe Flower, a nationally recognized authority on issues of change, technology and community health, explored how technology will change the health care field, and how hospitals can adapt to that change.

In one example, Flower noted how technology to decrease heart disease could dramatically change how hospitals do business. As technology helps decrease the risk for heart disease and stroke, hospitals will likely be called upon less to provide direct medical care and more to provide preventative care and education. Further, in preparing for future technological advances, Flower said hospitals could expect to see a decline in the need for all surgeries, shorter length of stays, a lessened need for acute care and less laboratory business.

In helping hospitals prepare for the future, Flower also assisted OHA in rolling out the association’s strategic direction plan that encourages Ohio hospitals to help create a future of possibility. The strategic direction plan calls on OHA, Ohio hospitals and other organizations to work together to create an environment where: adequate funding is available for hospitals, Ohio hospitals attract and retain talented and dedicated employees and medical staff, every Ohioan has appropriate access to health care, Ohio hospitals lead the way in a quest to create prosperous and healthy communities, and residents of Ohio practice healthy lifestyles. (Mary Yost, maryy@ohanet.org)

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(Editor’s note: StateHealthClips.com has gone to a subscription service. Please note that the link to access clips will change daily. If you visit www.statehealthclips.com, you will be required to enter a subscriber password. No password is required for the link published in HEALTH e-NEWS Plus.)

Tuesday, June 4, 2002
OHA Celebrates Health Care Worker of the Year
OHA last night awarded the Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award to a 21-year employee of East Liverpool City Hospital, Fay Lower, who says her job is “whatever can put a smile on someone’s face.” Lower is a recreational activities coordinator at the hospital. She received the award during a recognition dinner Monday as part of the association’s annual meeting at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Lower was selected from 51 nominations for the prestigious award, created in 1996 to honor a hospital employee who demonstrates leadership, reflects the values and ideals of Ohio’s health care facilities, goes above and beyond the call of duty, gives back to the community and has overcome odds to succeed.

All nominees were honored as their hospitals’ choice to represent the many extraordinary employees in their hospitals. OHA thanks this year’s recipient, Fay Lower, all nominees for the award and Ohio’s 230,000 health care workers for their daily dedication to making Ohio a healthy, prosperous and safe place for all residents. A complete list of nominees as well as the recipients of additional awards is available online at www.ohanet.org/education/dinnerprogram.pdf.

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(Editor’s note: The news clips are being password-protected on the OHA Web site. OHA members will be notified separately of the password. HEALTH e-NEWS Plus subscribers can still access news clips through the daily e-mail without a password.)

Wednesday, June 5, 2002
Grants, Loan Program Addressing Workforce Shortage
Two Ohio nursing schools are recipients of a series of grants announced yesterday by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. The University of Akron was awarded $31,451 and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland was awarded $60,059 for nurse anesthetist traineeship programs as part of the series of nationwide grants to colleges, universities and other organizations to increase the number of qualified nurses and help ease the nursing shortage.

In addition, the Health Resources and Services Administration is designating $8 million to its Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program (NELRP), designed to assist in the recruitment and retention of registered nurses to underserved populations by helping to repay the nurses’ school loans in exchange for service in eligible health professional shortage areas. The deadline for application is June 14. Applicants may apply online at bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/loanrepay.htm. Participants of the program agree to provide full-time employment at an eligible health facility for 2 or 3 years and in exchange, NELRP will repay a portion of the participant’s loans.

Eligible Ohio counties designated as shortage areas include: Carroll, Clermont, Clinton, Erie, Fulton, Geauga, Harrison, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Morgan, Morrow, Paulding, Perry, Preble, Sandusky, Tuscarawas, Union, and Vinton. A complete list of eligible health facilities is available at bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/loanrepay.htm. (Jean Scholz, jeans@ohanet.org)

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Thursday, June 6, 2002
More Ohio Hospitals Acquire Critical Access Designation
Two Ohio hospitals have joined the list of those designated as Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), a federal program that entitles select small, rural hospitals to Medicare cost-based reimbursement. The April designation of Henry County Hospital in Napoleon and Mercy Hospital Willard brings the total number of Ohio hospitals with critical access designation to 11. Additional CAHs include Community Memorial Hospital in Hicksville, Doctors Hospital of Nelsonville, Greenfield Area Medical Center, Lodi Community Hospital, Oberlin Medical Center, Paulding County Hospital, Twin City Hospital of Dennison, UHHS Brown Memorial Hospital in Conneaut, and UHHS Hospital of Geneva. (David Hendershot, davidh@ohanet.org)

Tobacco Cessation Grants Moving Along
The foundation created to distribute national tobacco settlement funds to prevent and reduce tobacco use in Ohio this week held a meeting to provide an overview of the requirements for the $7 million in tobacco grants to be distributed in the coming months. The Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation (TUPCF) meeting drew about 260 representatives of hospitals, health and public agencies, tobacco-free coalitions and other interested parties. TUPCF representatives fielded about an hour and a half of questions from attendees and will make a transcript of the meeting available on its Web site at www.standohio.org.

Potential grantees must submit a letter of intent by June 17 and proposals by July 31. Hospitals are encouraged to seek or form community-based or regional coalitions to increase their chances of grant approval. Questions about applying can be e-mailed to grants@standohio.org or directed to OHA’s Foundation for Healthy Communities Director Lynne Ayres at 614.221.7614 or lynnea@ohanet.org.

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Friday, June 7, 2002
Patient Safety Bill Introduced
Sens. Bill Frist (R-TN), Jim Jeffords (I-VT), John Breaux (D-LA) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) this week introduced legislation to enhance patient safety and reduce medical errors. The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act would provide legal protections for information submitted voluntarily to patient safety improvement systems. It encourages caregivers to voluntarily share information about medical errors by creating a safe environment that supports candid discussion of errors, their causes, and ways to prevent them. Additionally, the bill would create incentives for voluntary reporting systems that are non-punitive and promote learning without changing current regulatory processes. Several health organizations, including the American Hospital Association, support the legislation. (Rosalie Weakland, rosaliew@ohanet.org)

Homeland Security Advises of Possible Threat
The State of Ohio Intelligence Report, Homeland Security, is advising health professionals that ambulance services on the East Coast have received e-mails from a subject claiming to be an assistant professor of civil engineering at NED University of Engineering and Technology in Karachi, Pakistan. The person asks for information on how the ambulance service is organized, trained, equipped and inquires about the routes of responses. Health professionals with knowledge of similar inquiries are asked to notify their local or regional FBI office. (Carol Jacobson, carolj@ohanet.org)

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