Health Care

Providence Holy Family in mediation with union

Nurses' wages said to lag behind Sacred Heart's

September 11, 2014

The Seattle-based Washington State Nurses Association, which represents more than 400 registered nurses at Providence Holy Family Hospital in north Spokane, are in mediation talks with hospital administrators over pay that they contend lags behind that of

Insurance broker aims to simplify Obamacare

Welk writes book, creates website to aid consumers

September 11, 2014

Kim Crompton

Independent insurance broker Robert S. Welk, who owns Welk Security & Trust on Spokane's North Side, isn't interested in offering his personal views on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as the Affordable Care Act or O

Sacred Heart adds recently approved surgical robot

Newer technology can be used on more procedures

September 11, 2014

Linn Parish

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital has bought and installed the newest generation of the DaVinci robotic surgery device, a machine that' it expects will enable it to perform surgeries it hadn't been able to do robotically.

New employer-owned health care plan launches here

Alternative offering stresses primary care, overall health

September 11, 2014

Katie Ross

Spokane-based Rockwood Health System has partnered with Cary, N.C.-based health care technology company Physician Care Direct to offer its Employer Health Ownership Plan (EHOP) here as an alternative to traditional third-party health insurance plans.

Health plans in state rise dramatically in second year

Board approves 82 options, up from 46 in first enrollment

September 11, 2014

Staff Report

The Washington Health Benefit Exchange board of directors last month provided final certification of Qualified Health Plans to be offered through Washington Healthplanfinder during the second open enrollment period.

Spokane Eye Clinic plans to move its Spokane Valley office

Practice leases big space in River View Corporate Ctr.

September 11, 2014

Mike McLean

Spokane Eye Clinic PS and affiliate Spokane Optical Co. plan to move their Valley operations to the River View Corporate Center, says Lisa Werner, a spokeswoman for the clinic. Together, the longtime Spokane-based medical practice and the optical shop wi

Inland Northwest Blood Center looks to solve drop in demand

Hospitals are buying less blood as cost-savings measure, center CEO says

September 11, 2014

Virginia Thomas

Spokane-based nonprofit Inland Northwest Blood Center is endeavoring to maintain revenue while hospital demand for blood is decreasing and donations of blood are declining. INBC President and CEO Jeff Bryant says that as hospitals look to cut costs, buy

Washington Alliance of Teaching Physicians plugs creation of medical school in Spokane

UW alone doesn't satisfy state's needs, group says

September 11, 2014

Mike McLean

The Washington Alliance of Teaching Physicians is stepping up its efforts to support a fully accredited medical school in Spokane, say Spokane physicians Jeremy Graham and Henry Mroch, spokesmen for the ad hoc group. Representatives of ATP, which is made

INHS CEO Tom Fritz to retire

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September 4, 2014

Staff Report

Inland Northwest Health Services CEO Tom Fritz will retire at the end of this year, the organization announced today. Fritz, 62, has served as CEO of INHS for 16 years. The organization, which operates St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute, Northwest M

Suit by former Rockwood Clinic CFO gets green light

Exec claims he was let go for not understating losses

August 28, 2014

Kim Crompton

A former chief financial officer for Rockwood Clinic PS who claims he essentially was fired for refusing to doctor an earnings projection for the big health provider network here can proceed to trial with his lawsuit for wrongful discharge, an appellate c