Healthy Kids School Summit Scheduled
The Ohio Action for Healthy Kids School Summit is scheduled for Oct. 2-3 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. The summit is sponsored by more than 20 Ohio education, fitness, nutrition and health organizations and will address the school’s role in responding to the child health crisis. The summit aims to inform participants about the issue, provide solutions, resources and tools, and motivate stakeholders to work together for positive change in communities and schools.

A total $52,700 in federal funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) was sought through Ohio’s ARC office to assist those hospitals having difficulty budgeting the equipment, which ranges from $5,000 to $20,000. Hospitals in Appalachian counties were queried for their interest and eligibility for the funds.

If the prescription drug bill passes in its present form, payments to hospitals in the Critical Access Hospital (CAH) program will increase to 101 percent of costs. Under new eligibility rules, up to 25 beds can be used for acute care and hospitals with no greater than 10 psychiatric or rehabilitation beds can become CAHs. The conferees also authorized $35 million in Rural Flexibility Grants annually, with 95 percent going to the hospitals. Ohio currently has 20 CAHs, which are list online at www.ohanet.org/about_oha/cah.asp. (Jonathan Archey, jonathana@ohanet.org; David Hendershot, davidh@ohanet.org)

Tom Breitenbach, CEO, Premier Health Partners, Dayton, and Frank Perez, President, Kettering Medical Center Network, Dayton, were named the number one and two most powerful people in health care in Dayton by the Dayton Business Journal. Breitenbach and Perez were among 30 individuals recognized in 10 different categories. Breitenbach is a past OHA Board chair. Perez currently serves on the American Hospital Association’s board of trustees and serves on the board of the Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care.

Parma Community General Hospital was recently presented with the Rotary Club’s Service Excellence Award for outstanding achievement in growth, innovative ideas, strong leadership and a positive impact on the Parma area.

The Center to Advance Palliative Care, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, named Mount Carmel, Columbus, one of six exemplary palliative care programs to receive part of a $4.5 million dollar grant to increase the availability of palliative care in hospitals throughout the nation. Visit www.rwjf.org/programs/npoDetail.jsp?id=HBP for more.

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society presented Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center the 2003 Nicholas E. Davies Award of Excellence for achievement in implementing computerized patient records, which have reduced medication errors by 35 percent, decreased verbal orders by 50 percent and virtually eliminated transcription error mistakes.

Southwest General Health Center, Middleburg Heights, was one of two hospitals honored with an Extraordinary Volunteer Program award by the American Society of Directors of Volunteer Services. Southwest's Gatekeeper Program is a hospital-community partnership that provides non-traditional referrals for older adults who are considered at-risk, are isolated, or who need assistance because of some special need. The program was funded in part by a grant from OHA’s Foundation for Healthy Communities. (Mary Yost, maryy@ohanet.org)