Columbia Medical

Dr. Calvin Robinson Dyer has joined the orthopedic department of the Columbia Medical Plan at the HMO's Columbia location. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in biomedical engineering, Dr. Dyer received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University in 1988.He completed his residency at the University of California in 1993.Before joining Columbia Medical Plan, Dr. Dyer completed a sports medicine and arthroscopy fellowship in Nashville, Tenn.

The April death of a Columbia infant has been ruled a homicide and the list of suspects has been winnowed down, Howard County police said yesterday. On April 12, Howard County emergency personnel were called to the 8800 block of Flowerstock Row, where 9-day-old Raven Rozier was having difficulty breathing. The child, who lived at the address, was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she died that day. A Johns Hopkins physician alerted police that the death appeared to be suspicious, and the medical examiner ruled in July that Raven had been shaken to death.

Through a new contract with the state, the Columbia Medical Plan has become the first area health maintenance organization outside of Baltimore City to enroll Medicaid patients as full members.Seventeen Howard County Medicaid patients have become members since the contract was signed March 31. The organization also is accepting Medicaid patients in Anne Arundel, Carroll and Frederick Counties."It's another way that low-income people can get comprehensive services," said county Health Officer Dr. Joyce Boyd.

Patuxent Medical Group is writing to patients next week to apologize for phone problems, delays in getting appointments and other difficulties in recent months, Kevin C. O'Neill, vice president for medical affairs and network management for CareFirst BlueCross Blue- Shield, said yesterday. Computer and phone problems hit as Patuxent was laying off staff in an effort to adjust to changes in the insurance market. Patuxent, formed three decades ago as part of the Columbia Medical Plan, is struggling to redefine itself at a time when the public is turning against HMOs and Patuxent's parent, CareFirst, is changing business strategies.

A Columbia woman is seeking $5 million in damages in a civil lawsuit she has filed against a health-care company that she claims is denying her access to the doctors she needs.Claudia Robertson claims in a Howard Circuit Court suit that Columbia Medical Plan Inc. and its parent company, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland Inc., violated their contract to provide her with health care.But Columbia Medical and Blue Cross-Blue Shield say in papers filed earlier this month that they had no choice but to transfer Ms. Robertson to another health-care site.

A Howard Circuit Court jury has ruled that the Columbia Medical Plan and one of its doctors did not cause a Glen Burnie woman to deliver a stillborn baby in 1987.The six-member jury issued its verdict Thursday in a wrongful death suit filed by Lula Jones, whose son was born dead on Aug. 20, 1987, two days after visiting Dr. Francoise Abrams of Columbia.Mrs. Jones and her husband, John Jones Sr., filed suit against Dr. Abrams, Columbia Medical Plan and Patuxent Medical Group in November 1991, claiming that the doctor's negligence caused Mrs. Jones' baby to be stillborn.

In 1969, James E. Jordan joined four other doctors to introduce the state's first prepaid medical plan, formed to care for residents of James Rouse's new planned community in Howard County.Jordan, now president of the Columbia Medical Plan, recalls that the concept was foreign to most Marylanders in those days.Since then, the plan has expanded to Anne Arundel County. The number of patients served at the Annapolis regional center and three satellites has jumped from 500 in 1984 to about 24,000, and the total served plan-wide has increased from 19,000 in 1980 to 72,000.

The YMCA of Anne Arundel County is being sued for $95,0000 by an investment firm that alleges the organization did not honor the terms of a rental agreement.Cochran Drive Holding Associates Limited Partnership of Landover alleges that the YMCA failed to turn over rents collected on office space in the 2500 block of Riva Road in Annapolis that the YMCA had leased, vacated and then sublet to the Columbia Medical Plan.A spokeswoman for the YMCA said the space was leased by the YMCA for use as an Annapolis branch years ago and that it was sublet, but not to Columbia Medical Plan.

Dr. Karen Kingry joins Columbia Medical PlanDr. Karen Rose Kingry, a 1981 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, has joined Columbia Medical Plan as a pediatrician at the Columbia Regional Center in Columbia.Dr. Kingry completed a pediatrics intership at Johns Hospital in 1982 and residency at Georgetown University Hospital in 1984. She is a board-certified pediatrician with training in advanced life support.Before coming to Columbia, Dr. Kingry served as an emergency room medical specialist at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring.

A newly established partnership between the nonprofit Columbia Association and the Columbia Medical Plan will let 150 Howard County employers buy low-cost packages for health education programs and health and fitness memberships.The partnership, announced yesterday, will be made available to county employers with 50 or more workers.The packages offer health education programs on such topics as infant care, emotional well-being and smoking cessation to any employer who also takes part in CA's fitness and health clubs.

WASHINGTON -- In a move that will help consumers and employers compare the quality of health plans, an industry group yesterday released a report that places the Columbia Medical Plan among the top five for "quality of care" in the country.Using data available to the public for the first time, the report measures plans' performance in dozens of ways such as the percentage of immunized children, the rate of births by Caesarean section and the percentage of doctors who are accepting new patients.

A newly established partnership between the nonprofit Columbia Association and the Columbia Medical Plan will let 150 Howard County employers buy low-cost packages for health education programs and health and fitness memberships.The partnership, announced yesterday, will be made available to county employers with 50 or more workers.The packages offer health education programs on such topics as infant care, emotional well-being and smoking cessation to any employer who also takes part in CA's fitness and health clubs.

The YMCA of Anne Arundel County is being sued for $95,0000 by an investment firm that alleges the organization did not honor the terms of a rental agreement.Cochran Drive Holding Associates Limited Partnership of Landover alleges that the YMCA failed to turn over rents collected on office space in the 2500 block of Riva Road in Annapolis that the YMCA had leased, vacated and then sublet to the Columbia Medical Plan.A spokeswoman for the YMCA said the space was leased by the YMCA for use as an Annapolis branch years ago and that it was sublet, but not to Columbia Medical Plan.

A Columbia woman is seeking $5 million in damages in a civil lawsuit she has filed against a health-care company that she claims is denying her access to the doctors she needs.Claudia Robertson claims in a Howard Circuit Court suit that Columbia Medical Plan Inc. and its parent company, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland Inc., violated their contract to provide her with health care.But Columbia Medical and Blue Cross-Blue Shield say in papers filed earlier this month that they had no choice but to transfer Ms. Robertson to another health-care site.

New positions* Diamond Comic Distributors, of Timonium, announced the appointments of Helen Carroll to director of finance; Tom Stormonth, executive director of purchasing; Bill Neuhaus, director of sales and customer service; Eric Best, manager, sales and customer service; and Shelley Grosser, marketing communications manager.* ERIS Enterprises selected Constance Stadler Bay as a training and development associate and Susan Wade an associate on its training materials desktop publishing staff.

Dr. Calvin Robinson Dyer has joined the orthopedic department of the Columbia Medical Plan at the HMO's Columbia location. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University with a degree in biomedical engineering, Dr. Dyer received his medical degree from Vanderbilt University in 1988.He completed his residency at the University of California in 1993.Before joining Columbia Medical Plan, Dr. Dyer completed a sports medicine and arthroscopy fellowship in Nashville, Tenn.

Four former employees of a Columbia medical supply company have sued its owner, contending that he cut them out of commissions and a profit-sharing agreement.The suit, filed in Howard Circuit Court Oct. 2, names the defendant as Walter Weems, operator of Columbia Medical, 9515 Gerwig Lane, in the Village of Owen Brown.The plaintiffs are seeking $3.5 million in damages, alleging fraud and breach of contract. Three of the plaintiffs are John Gebhardt of Warrenton, Va., Sandy Melago of Crofton, and Lori Robideaux of Baltimore.

Several workers and patients were evacuated from the Columbia Medical Plan in Oakland Mills because of a bomb scare yesterday, but bomb-sniffing dogs detected no explosive devices.According to Howard County police, a female phoned the surgical area of the urgent care facility about 2:55 p.m. and said there was a bomb in the building. Hospital officials evacuated two buildings at the site on Twin Knolls Road."We had to evacuate people, and some were in the middle of a procedure," said Al Discepolo, president of Columbia Medical Plan.

Several workers and patients were evacuated from the Columbia Medical Plan in Oakland Mills because of a bomb scare yesterday, but bomb-sniffing dogs detected no explosive devices.According to Howard County police, a female phoned the surgical area of the urgent care facility about 2:55 p.m. and said there was a bomb in the building. Hospital officials evacuated two buildings at the site on Twin Knolls Road."We had to evacuate people, and some were in the middle of a procedure," said Al Discepolo, president of Columbia Medical Plan.

Vjacheslav Galkin has helped to develop new drugs and medical equipment in his native Russia, but he toured Columbia Medical Plan this week in hopes of expanding his knowledge."