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FOIC Rules for the Public, Against HMOs

by Paul Bass | Nov 30, 2005 8:57 pm | Comments (0)

Following is the text of a press release about a ruling Wednesday by the state Freedom of Information Commission breaking new ground for the public’s right to know how its tax money is spent. An FOIC hearing officer ruled that four private HMOs hired to run the state’s HUSKY program in effect serve a “government function”—and therefore information about the program such as how many thousands of times per month HMOs deny low-income recipients drugs at the pharmacy counter. Click here to learn more about groups working to hold HMOs accountable. And click here to read previous Independent coverage on this case.

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City To Hospital: Gridlock is On Your Tab

by Paul Bass | Nov 29, 2005 1:03 pm | Comments (5)

Traffic engineer Bijan Notghi: Whoever causes the traffic should fix it. A new dispute has emerged in Yale-New Haven Hospital’s stalled effort to build a $430 million cancer center: Who should pay for a needed new $3.5 - $4 million set of traffic lights?

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New Haven Traffic Department to Yale-New Haven: Help Us Fix Your Traffic Mess

by Staff | Nov 29, 2005 10:51 am | Comments (0)

The New Haven Department of Traffic and Parking recently issued two memos about traffic and parking issues surrounding Yale-New Haven Hospital’s proposed new cancer center. Click on the prompts below to read them.

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For Immigrants’—& Society’s—Health

by Paul Bass | Nov 23, 2005 12:03 pm | Comments (0)

Both established organizations and more ad hoc groups, like the one above demonstrating on behalf of immigrant rights last month, have been making the case for easing the passage of newcomers into the mainstream of society. A new report by Democracy Works on immigrant health care is the latest effort. The voices of some of our least-heard citizens come through in a comprehensive new report about the challenges facing immigrants seeking health care in Connecticut—and some of the solutions.

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Reading Rx

by Staff | Nov 22, 2005 9:16 am | Comments (0)

Booster shots. Throat checks. And ... new books?

Pictured from left are Erika Buatti, Quinnipiac University Physician Assistant graduate student; Saint Raphael pediatrician Annette Cameron; William Kohlepp, associate director of Quinnipiac Universityâ€™s Physician Assistant program.
Kids under 5 and under can expect all three now when they go to the Hospital of St. Raphael for regular check-ups. Researchers have discovered that people who learn to read early tend to be healthier later on. So the hospital started a “Read Out and Read Program.” The hospital announced Monday that Quinnipiac University has obtained a $5,700 grant for the program from a national organization; the money will pay for books to be given out to kids receiving check-ups at the hospital’s Pediatric Primary Care Center. Below is the press release the hospital prepared to announce the grant.

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Blumenthal Calls for Change on Hospital Debt

by Kara Arsenault | Nov 16, 2005 12:03 am | Comments (2)

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told a public hearing Tuesday night that Yale-New Haven is “one of the nationâ€™s greatest medical institutions” -â€” but it needs to do more. For starters, it should help restore the credit rating for each patient who has suffered under its debt-collection practices.

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Mattison: I’m No Stooge

by Paul Bass | Nov 15, 2005 10:01 am | Comments (0)

As he prepares to oversee a hearing Tuesday night (6 p.m., City Hall, 2nd floor) on Yale-New Haven Hospital’s debt-collection practices, Alderman Ed Mattison takes issue with the hospital’s characterization of him and his colleagues.

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Waiting for Marna

by Paul Bass | Nov 14, 2005 3:40 pm | Comments (2)

The Rev. Abraham Hernandez prayed along with 19 other ministers outside Yale-New Haven Hospital Monday as they waited to present a letter of protest to hospital President Marna Borgstrom. The event symbolized a larger waiting game taking place throughout New Haven: to see whether the hospitalâ€™s new president will take a new course and help settle the cityâ€™s most important controversy.

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Debt Debate Comes Due

by Paul Bass | Nov 13, 2005 4:39 pm | Comments (0)

Yale-New Haven's union nemeses have made postcards with the photos and stories of people like Lucretia Faulk, above, whom the hospital sued for $26,000 after she went to the emergency room with a stroke. Yale-New Haven Hospital continues preying on sick people entitled to free care at the hospital, according to an investigation by a Board of Aldermen committee. The hospital claims it has cleaned up its act; it charges the committee with acting as a front for a labor union trying to organize 1,800 blue-collar Yale-New Haven workers. A showdown looms Tuesday evening when the committee holds a public hearing on the report.