Health Care

Working out wellness plans

Spokane gets $1 million in grant money over four years

June 30, 2016

Some Spokane-area employers recently have started taking advantage of federal grant money made available to help them set up wellness programs for their workers. Spokane's share of the grant will amount to $1 million over the course of four years, from

Summit Rehabilitation opens its third physical therapy clinic here

Practice establishes office in new North Side building

June 30, 2016

Mike McLean

Spokane-based physical therapy practice Summit Rehabilitation Associates PLLC has opened a new clinic on the North Side, its third Spokane-area location. The clinic, which is outfitted with state-of-the-art physical and occupational therapy equipment, oc

St. Luke's absorbs practice, expands physiatry staff

Outpatient area remodeled, more exam rooms slated

June 30, 2016

Samantha Peone

St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute has bolstered its physiatry department and is expanding and remodeling its outpatient physiatry area, says Nicole Stewart, director of communications for Inland Northwest Health Services, which operates St. Luke's.

Providence Health, St. Joseph merger gets green light

Systems review conditions imposed by California AG

June 30, 2016

Kim Crompton

A proposed merger between Providence Health & Services, the Renton, Wash.-based parent of Spokane-based Providence Health Care, and smaller Irvine, Calif.-based St. Joseph Health has been cleared to move ahead, albeit with a host of conditions. The Calif

Bye-bye to medical marijuana dispensaries

Deadline elevates concerns for customer patients

June 30, 2016

LeAnn Bjerken

Senate Bill 5052, the Washington measure to close all medical cannabis dispensaries not licensed with the state's Liquor and Cannabis Board, will take effect this Friday, July 1. Signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee this past April, the bill, now titled

Rockwood Health owner set to sell 10 hospitals systemwide

Company might divest itself of more centers

June 16, 2016

LeAnn Bjerken

Community Health Systems Inc., the Tennessee-based hospital operator that owns Rockwood Health System in Spokane, reported during a first-quarter earnings investor call last month that it has transactions underway to divest itself of 10 hospital facilitie

â€”LeAnn Bjerken, Center for Disease Control

Zika virus poses little risk in Northwest, health district says

Pregnant women advised not to go to some regions

June 2, 2016

LeAnn Bjerken

Despite the beginning of mosquito season and rising national concerns over cases of the Zika virus, officials at the Spokane Regional Health District say there is little to no risk of an outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease occurring here. The Zika vi

Sacred Heart sees increase in birth defects in region

Anencephaly rates rise in three Washington counties

June 2, 2016

A rare birth defect called anencephaly has increased dramatically among infants born in three Eastern Washington counties this decade. Since 2010, the rates of anencephaly in Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties have been significantly higher than both t

Cross-discipline academia at WSU Spokane's nursing school

New nursing dean drawn to interprofessional approach at WSU Spokane

June 2, 2016

Treva Lind

Future nursing education should involve more learning in teams with cross-discipline health care students, working together in patient scenarios and using technology, says the new Spokane-based dean of the Washington State University College of Nursing.

â€”Mann-Grandstaff Veteran Affairs Medical Center

Spokane VA medical center plans $35 million in projects

Next building to be erected for mental health, education

June 2, 2016

Mike McLean

The Spokane Mann-Grandstaff Veteran Affairs Medical Center plans to erect a mental health and education building on its campus in northwest Spokane to kick off a few projects in the works there with a combined value estimated at nearly $35 million. The n