Maryland Hospitals

In the Region Southwest to add 2 Boeing 737s and 3 BWI flights Southwest Airlines, the only major airline that did not announce cutbacks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, plans to take delivery of two new Boeing 737s in February that will allow it to expand service from Baltimore-Washington International Airport. The Dallas-based carrier will add three daily nonstop flights from BWI - to Manchester, N.H., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Orlando, Fla. - beginning Feb. 4. Southwest deferred delivery of 19 aircraft to conserve cash in the wake of the attacks.

I'm pleased to see The Sun revealing the charges by Maryland hospitals to patients. The differences are astounding. ("Costs vary for same treatment," May 9). Recently, I spent three days and two nights at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center for an allergic reaction I had to an antibiotic given to me for a viral infection. I couldn't believe the amount charged for such a short stay. My bill, $4,745, was astounding. Although Medicare and Blue Cross/Blue Shield paid most of it, I still had to pay for some of the charges.

Maryland hospitals have become more aggressive in recent years about vaccinating workers for the flu, but public health officials are pushing for even stricter programs to halt the spread of a virus that kills thousands each year. As manufacturers have begun shipping vaccine for the 2011-2012 flu season and vaccination programs are being planned, some officials are pushing hospitals to make vaccinations mandatory for employees. They say the vaccine is the most effective means of protecting workers and adds a crucial layer of safety for highly vulnerable patients such as newborns, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems.

The Maryland Hospital Association has sent a letter to state health officials saying it will not support a proposal that would link medical spending to the state's economic growth. The state presented the proposal to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in March as part of an application to update its Medicare waiver, an agreement with the federal government unique to Maryland that allows the state to set uniform hospital rates. The hospital association has said in the past the proposal raises concerns, but the April 25 letter is the first time the group publicly said it would not support it. The letter is addressed to Health Secretary Joshua M. Sharfstein and John M. Colmers, chairman of the Health Services Cost Review Commission, the agency that sets hospital rates in Maryland.

There was a significant uptick in the number of serious problems reported by Maryland hospitals in fiscal 2010, according to the annual report on patient care and safety released by state health officials. There were 265 top level adverse events reported in 2010, compared with 190 the year before. Health officials attributed the rise to better identification and reporting rather than more problems – particularly when it came to pressure ulcers. Falls remained the No. 1 adverse event at the hospital.

Maryland, trying to combat one of the highest growth rates of bloodstream infections in the country, is joining the national effort to curb the problem by adopting a prevention program created by a Johns Hopkins doctor. Forty-four Maryland hospitals recently announced they will institute measures developed by Hopkins critical-care doctor Peter Pronovost. His highly recognized approach has helped decrease infections in other states. Pronovost and his team created the program nearly nine years ago that calls for simple steps to curb blood infections — usually associated with catheters.

To compete in a rapidly transforming health care industry, four Maryland hospitals have created a single health system to offer a full range of care far beyond that offered on their own campuses.The system, formed by an alliance of three Baltimore hospitals and Holy Cross in Silver Spring, becomes the state's largest full-service health care network and furthers a continuing consolidation of the marketplace in Maryland and around the country.Besides Holy Cross, the hospitals include the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, St. Agnes Hospital and Northwest Hospital Center.

Profit margins at Maryland hospitals, at record levels the past two years, dropped sharply in the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to data from the Maryland Hospital Association.The decline was caused by tightened state controls on hospital rates, claim denials by insurers, cuts in Medicare reimbursements for some services and a drop in patient days, said Nancy Fiedler, senior vice president of the hospital association."The worry has to do with the fact that there doesn't seem to be any indication the downturn is going to change," Fiedler said.

The chief financial officer at Anne Arundel Medical Center is watching the fight over federal spending closely. If the federal government goes through with sequestration cuts beginning today, Maryland stands to lose millions of dollars in health-related funding that could leave hospitals such as Anne Arundel Medical Center looking for ways to make up lost revenue without weakening medical care. "We're here for the community and, like all hospitals, we are here 24/7 and will not jeopardize the care of patients," said Bob Reilly, the Annapolis hospital's finance director.

Supervisors at a Maryland hospital weren't surprised when drugs were missing from a treatment room where contract radiology technician David Kwiatkowski was assigned. A manager had spotted him going through needle-disposal containers and he was among three employees under suspicion for taking vials of the narcotic fentanyl from the cardiac catheter lab, a state investigation found. But when a staffing agency later contacted the hospital about Kwiatkowski, a manager gave him a satisfactory review, writing: "David is very professional and worked very hard.

The Maryland Hospital Association said Friday that jobs may be in jeopardy if a state commission approves a plan that would make hospitals absorb all of the 2 percent Medicare cuts required under federal sequestration. The board of the Health Services Cost Review Commission, which sets the state's hospital rates, is scheduled to vote Wednesday on how to implement the cuts. The commission's staff has recommended a plan that keeps hospital rates flat for the last three months of fiscal year 2013, which ends June 30. Hospitals are pushing for a rate increase to help offset the cost of the cuts.

The University of Maryland Medical System is planning to build a $50 million ambulatory care center, for outpatient services, on the campus of Maryland General Hospital. Initial plans for the seven-story structure were revealed at the city's architectural review board Thursday, said Mark Wasserman, senior vice president for external affairs and development for the medical system. The building will be constructed on a now vacant lot at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Linden Avenue in midtown Baltimore, he said.

Dr. Theodore Kardash, an obstetrician-gynecologist who had been head of gynecologic services at Maryland General Hospital and whose accomplishments as a physician were the pride of his Russian immigrant parents, died April 9 at the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home in St. Mary's County after complications from leg surgery. He was 96. "He said he would make it to his 96th birthday, and he did," said his daughter, Linda Armiger of Solomons. "It was Easter weekend and we had all the family.

A bill that would have required the state health department to report to legislators on the effectiveness of a new online registry of psychiatric hospital beds did not pass this legislative session - but the review will be conducted anyway. On April 4, Del. Peter A. Hammen, a Baltimore Democrat and chair of the Health and Government Operations Committee, wrote a letter to health secretary Joshua Sharfstein - in lieu of moving the bill out of his committee - requesting the health department conduct the review and report back to his committee before the 2014 legislative session.

The Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously Thursday for a proposed law that would require state licensing of medical staffing companies after a radiographer was accused of exposing hundreds of Marylanders to hepatitis C. In a telephone call after the vote, Sen. Thomas Middleton, a Charles County Democrat, said that chances are high it will pass the full Senate as well, given the case of David Kwiatkowski, who allegedly stole syringes of drugs...

Supervisors at a Maryland hospital weren't surprised when drugs were missing from a treatment room where contract radiology technician David Kwiatkowski was assigned. A manager had spotted him going through needle-disposal containers and he was among three employees under suspicion for taking vials of the narcotic fentanyl from the cardiac catheter lab, a state investigation found. But when a staffing agency later contacted the hospital about Kwiatkowski, a manager gave him a satisfactory review, writing: "David is very professional and worked very hard.

As a new generation of treatments emerges for stroke, several Maryland hospitals are gearing up, creating teams and streamlining emergency room procedures to make sure stroke victims are handled as aggressively as trauma and heart patients.In stroke, every minute now counts.If someone gets to the emergency room within a crucial three-hour window of noticing stroke symptoms, a clot-dissolving drug, called t-PA, can reopen their blocked artery, restore blood flow and prevent fatal or disabling brain damage.

Delegate John A. Hurson wanted to make Maryland's system for setting hospital rates fairer to poor people. As chairman of the House health committee, he was in a powerful position to make those changes happen. But he couldn't get several proposals through his own panel. They were watered down or removed from bills after the rate-setting agency and the powerful trade group representing hospitals teamed up against them.

The chief financial officer at Anne Arundel Medical Center is watching the fight over federal spending closely. If the federal government goes through with sequestration cuts beginning today, Maryland stands to lose millions of dollars in health-related funding that could leave hospitals such as Anne Arundel Medical Center looking for ways to make up lost revenue without weakening medical care. "We're here for the community and, like all hospitals, we are here 24/7 and will not jeopardize the care of patients," said Bob Reilly, the Annapolis hospital's finance director.

A traveling hospital worker accused of stealing pain-killing drugs, contaminating syringes and infecting dozens of patients with hepatitis C pleaded not guilty to the charges in New Hampshire federal court Monday. David Kwiatkowski, 33, who was trained in Michigan as a radiologic technologist before beginning his work as a hired temporary worker in hospitals across the country — including four in Maryland — has been described as a "serial infector" by prosecutors and an addict by investigators.