"Washington congressman Dicks says he will retire
SEATTLE - Democrat Norm Dicks shocked the political establishment yesterday, announcing he will retire at the end of the year.
The top Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, the 71-year-old former college football player has a reputation as a defender of the Pentagon and the Boeing Co. and its unionized workforce. The aerospace company employs thousands of people in his district. Dicks earned a reputation as an inside player, popular with Democrats and Republicans.
For another fat dick see THIS
Also see: Snowe Falls in Maine
Getting dicked around here:
"Northampton hospital, MGH to pursue merger" by Robert Weisman | Globe Staff, February 29, 2012
Trustees at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton have voted to negotiate a merger with Massachusetts General Hospital, an alliance that would extend the reach of Mass. General and its powerful parent, Partners HealthCare, beyond Eastern Massachusetts.
We call it Cooley Dick 'round h're.
And if it is Partners taking over prepare to see a tripling of prices.
The deal could send more Cooley Dickinson patients to Boston to receive treatment for cancer, heart disease, and other conditions, boosting Mass. General traffic at a time when it is under pressure from lower-cost competitors. It might also take business away from Baystate Health, the Springfield health care system that now treats patients referred by Cooley Dickinson and had hoped to acquire it....
Baystate a union-buster according to the local radio shows.
Already, critics are questioning whether an alliance of two health care organizations that for years have received some of the state’s highest insurance payments will mean lower prices for patients and employers.
“There may be some positives in the form of convenient referrals,’’ said Alan Sager, professor of health policy and management at Boston University. “But there may be more efforts to vacuum patients into Boston and to capture more patients for Mass. General itself. And it may mean that Cooley would be able to raise prices. Partners would be able to negotiate with insurers on behalf of Cooley, and they have leverage.’’
Related: Memory Hole: Why the Nation Doesn't Need Massachusetts Health Care
Also see: Partners' gain hurt by drop in swaps
Profits up at Mass. health insurers
Where did you thinks those higher premium payments went?
Baystate Health said that its executives were “extremely disappointed’’ by Cooley-Dickinson’s decision. “It is of deep concern to us that local control of one of the region’s most important community assets may be transferred to a large Boston hospital corporation,’’ said Robert B. Steele Jr., chairman of Baystate’s board of trustees.
The merger would add to a wave of consolidations that has been reshaping the state’s health care industry over the past two years. Last month, Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, another Harvard hospital, said it had completed its takeover of 81-bed Milton Hospital. Partners already owns nine hospitals in Eastern Massachusetts, while for-profit Steward Health Care System owns 10.
Related: Catholic Caritas Makes Deal With the Devil
He's the steward.
Lynn Nicholas, president of the Massachusetts Hospital Association, said the mergers are an effort by hospitals to position themselves for an era of coordinated care and fixed insurance payments that is being fueled by changes in the industry and new laws.
It's called rationing, folks, and it is coming soon to a state near you thanks to Obamacare.
“It’s an effort to drive costs down and have better resources to drive quality,’’ she said. “Hospitals can’t be successful if they’re not cost effective in the environment we’re now in. This consolidation is a proactive step to make sure hospitals can survive.’’
Related: Tax deal reduces funds for hospitals
Really got it tucked to you, huh?
--more--"
Well, it used to be a good hospital.
