In Business

For the fourth consecutive year, The Community Hospital in Munster was recognized with HealthGrades America's 50 Best Hospitals designation based on clinical outcomes over an 11-year period. (Times File Photo)

The Community Hospital was the only Hoosier hospital named in HealthGrades America’s 50 Best Hospitals report, the hospital announced Wednesday.

For the fourth consecutive year, Community was recognized with the designation based on clinical outcomes over an 11-year period.

“We cross our fingers every year when they run the data,” said Don Fesko, the CEO of The Community Hospital. “Everyone’s proud. It’s a total team effort.”
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The Franciscan Alliance has proposed to the Hammond Clinic to create a marriage of their health services through a sale of the Hammond Clinic to the Franciscan Alliance.

“Following a due diligence period of both parties to ascertain the value of the practice and equipment, we’ll settle on a price and move forward to bring the Hammond Clinic under the umbrella of the Franciscan Alliance,” said Gene Diamond, regional CEO of the Franciscan Alliance for northern Indiana.

Diamond said the Franciscan Alliance has approached the Hammond Clinic multiple times, and now is in the late stages of the purchase.
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Rich Shelhamer, right, National Sales Manager of Perry Johnson Registrars Inc., presents the ISO certification to Dave Ruskowski, left, president of Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Crown Point, and Tim Ross, regional director of WorkingWell, during Thursday's Innovators Cafe event. (Photograph by Kristin Elkins/The Times.)

In an effort to adopt the same standards as many of the companies with which it does business, Franciscan Alliance’s WorkingWell Occupational Healthcare became ISO-certified. It became the first occupational health care facility worldwide to achieve the certification.

The Crown Point WorkingWell clinic received it’s ISO certification Thursday during the Innovators Cafe meeting at Franciscan Point, which houses the clinic. The Crown Point WorkingWell clinic is the second of the system’s five clinics to receive the international standards certification.
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A local, for-profit hospital contributed 240 jobs and a total economic impact of more than $44.8 million in 2009, according to an economic vitality report released Tuesday.

Franciscan Physicians Hospital, 701 Superior Ave., is a 63-bed facility partially owned by physicians and partially owned by the Franciscan Alliance Northern Indiana Region, formerly known as the Sisters of St. Francis Health Services. The report released by the hospital Tuesday was created by the Indiana Hospital Association, said hospital spokesman Andrew Mullins.
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A few months after leaving a job, Kathy Fisher decided to check in with an old co-worker and sent an email that said “Hey, how are you guys doing?”

At least that’s what Fisher, of Whiting, thought it said, which was why she was confused when she got a reply back from her former boss asking why she was spying on the company and if she was now working for a competitor.

“It was totally misconstrued,” said Fisher, who said she had included emoticons in the initial email to convey her friendliness. “Sometimes (email) really does turn around and backfire.”
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Valparaiso public works employee Dan Brugos throws cardboard boxes into a recycling truck during his route Monday in the Hawthorne subdivision. (Photograph by The Times.)

Every time she enters a classroom to talk about recycling, Kathy Kazmierczak asks students to raise their hands if they already recycle at home.

Kazmierczak, Hammond’s director of recycling, estimates about 95 percent of students raise their hands.

In 2010, it appears recycling has been ingrained as a part of our lives. In Lake County, every community has curbside recycling. And, as Lake County Solid Waste Management District Executive Director Jeffrey Langbehn points out, even Fisher Price has gotten in on the act with the Little People Sing ‘n’ Learn Recycling Truck.
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Porter Health System CEO Jonathan Nalli talks to a crowd Thursday during the 13th Innovators Cafe, themed ”A Culture of Excellence: Fostering Innovation Through Evidence-Based Practices.“ (Photograph by The Times.)

The evidence that evidence-based practices used at Porter Health System work is in the numbers.

Once evidence-based practices were put in place in treating congestive heart failure, Porter ranked in the top 10 nationally for treatment. Since 2007, Porter Health System has had a 25 percent decrease in the number of patients heading to Chicago or elsewhere for treatment, thanks to evidence-based practices, said Jonathan Nalli, Porter Health System’s CEO.

The foundation of the system is on listening and using data. While that may not sound “sexy,” Nalli told a packed auditorium at Porter Hospital in Valparaiso it is what works.
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Indiana will receive $1 million to fight health insurance premium increases, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services officials announced Monday.

The Affordable Care Act funding will allow the state to provide more oversight of insurance premium increases through methods such as improving the review process for insurance premiums, increasing transparency and accessibility for the state’s residents and upgrading technology to improve efficiency.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement Monday premiums should be reduced in 2014 due to increased competition, lower insurance overhead and better risk pooling in health insurance exchanges. However, until then, the department is working with the states to make sure consumers don’t buckle under the weight of double-digit insurance premium increases.
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NIPSCO's Michigan City generating station is one of several region power plants that must curb air pollution under a new federal rule set to take effect in 2014.
(Photograph by The Times.)

A new federal environmental rule will make the air around coal-fueled power plants safer to breathe by reducing harmful emissions from the plants, according to the agency that proposed it.

Northwest Indiana and Cook County plants are on track to be in compliance with the new rule, according to the companies that own them.

Northwest Indiana has four coal-powered power plants affected by the Transport Rule introduced July 6 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Transport Rule requires 31 states and the District of Columbia to improve air quality by reducing emissions, specifically of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, that cross state lines. Both Indiana and Illinois must comply with the rule, which is scheduled to begin in 2012 with another benchmark set for 2014.
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Jonathan Nalli, CEO of Porter Health System, G. Thor Thordarson President/CEO of LaPorte Regional Health System, and Dr. James Callaghan, president of St. Anthony Memorial/Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, speak at the Porter/LaPorte Hospital CEO Summit on Wednesday in Valparaiso. (Photograph by The Times.)

Leaders of the region’s hospital systems agreed Wednesday a key component to decreasing health care costs in the future revolves around region residents living a healthy lifestyle and participating in wellness prevention programs.

“How is it we educate the population to living a healthy life and visiting their physician?” asked Jonathan Nalli, CEO of Porter Health System.

G. Thor Thordarson, the president and CEO of LaPorte Regional Health System, Dr. James Callaghan, the president of St. Anthony Memorial, and Nalli discussed a variety of topics as a panel for the Porter and LaPorte County Hospital CEO Summit.
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