New High Desert plans called boost for area hospitals.OFFICIALS are hoping that new plans for High Desert Hospital will make up for the loss of the Lancaster facility's inpatient services center, shuttered by the county in late June due to budget cuts, despite a year-long effort to come up with alternative funding sources. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Norm Hickling, field deputy for Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Supervisor Michael Antonovich and a former member of the High Desert Hospital Advisory Committee, the facility is in the middle of a plan to create an $18 million outpatient and multi-specialty ambulatory care center ambulatory care center Walk-in clinic Medical practice A free-standing facility that provides non-emergent medical, or less commonly, dental services between now and the end of August. When it's all said and done, according to Hickling, the hospital will have an outpatient center that can serve roughly 70,000 patients a year, up from about 37,000, which is good news for nearby facilities that have been taking in the overflow. Most of the new center will take over space formerly designated for in-patient services, so there is little actual construction involved, said Hickling. The acute care and skilled nursing facilities skilled nursing facility n. Abbr. SNF An establishment that houses chronically ill, usually elderly patients, and provides long-term nursing care, rehabilitation, and other services. , as well as 27 inpatient beds at High Desert are being modified and transformed to serve in the hospital's new outpatient care center, which will be manned by primary care physicians and hospital staff. Plans "also include transforming one building into an urgent care center, where patients can receive on-the-spot treatment seven days a week for about 23 hours each day. The urgent care center, said Hickling, is perhaps the most important element of the changes at High Desert, which primarily serves the region's poor and uninsured. High Desert never had an emergency room of its own, so, as a result, injured and ill patients would flock to ERs at surrounding facilities, such as Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Hospital. News of High Desert's transition to an all-outpatient facility, has had officials at other hospitals worried for months about further overcrowding overcrowding overcrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding. as they, too, grapple with expansion plans to serve a growing population amid budget constraints of their own. High Desert's new urgent care center, however, according to Hickling, alms to put many of those concerns to rest because he and others believe patients will go there first and avoid the ER because it is closer. In addition, he said because the vast majority of ER visits do not result in hospitalization, patients will begin and end their treatment there. The new center will also feature an expanded women's clinic and outpatient surgery Outpatient Surgery, also referred to as ambulatory surgery or same-day surgery, is surgery that does not require an overnight hospital stay. The term “outpatient” arises from the fact that surgery patients may go home do not need an overnight hospital services, as well as a new pediatric pediatric /pe·di·at·ric/ (pe?de-at´rik) pertaining to the health of children. pe·di·at·ric adj. Of or relating to pediatrics. unit for outpatient services outpatient services Hospital-based services Managed care Medical and other services provided, to a nonadmitted Pt, by a hospital or other qualified facility–eg, mental health clinic, rural health clinic, mobile X-ray unit, free-standing dialysis unit Examples for expectant and new mothers and their children. High Desert had hoped to close a $10 million budget gap by renting out extra beds to providers and other agencies through public-private partnerships--a test program implemented last fall and supported by Antonovich as a viable alternative to closing down the inpatient services center. However, the plan failed to gain traction and widespread support and has since been suspended, Hickling said. Hickling said the $18 million price tag for the new outpatient center at High Desert is roughly $10 million less than what it would have cost the county to keep inpatient and acute care services up and running. Vision Quest vision quest supernatural experience in which an individual interacts with a guardian spirit to obtain advice or protection. Of particular importance to indigenous North and South American peoples, these rituals varied from tribe to tribe. Thousand Oaks-based WellPoint Health Networks Inc. has completed its acquisition of Golden West Dental & Vision of Camarillo, signaling a continued push by the company into specialty markets. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, however, Golden West will continue to operate under its trade name, selling what are called "standalone" dental and vision products. Chris Kamen, former chief executive officer of Golden West, will continue to work jointly with WellPoint management through and beyond the transition. Golden West's total membership at the close of the deal June 30 was more than 275,000. The acquisition boosts WellPoint's dental membership to approximately 2.9 nationally. Honor Roll honor roll n. A list of names of people worthy of honor, especially: a. A list of students who have earned high grades during a specified period. b. A list of people who have served in the armed forces. Alan Katz, senior vice president of sales distribution for WellPoint Health Networks Inc. was awarded the Harold R. Gordon Memorial Person of the Year Award by the National Association of Health Underwriters, considered one of the highest honors given to individuals connected to the health insurance industry. The association's award recognizes Katz as Person of the Year. According to NAHU NAHU National Association of Health Underwriters Gordon Award Committee Chairman, James Walker James Walker may refer to a number of persons:
The term instigate is used synonymously with abet, which is the intentional encouragement or aid of another individual in committing a crime. positive changes for the industry and for health insurance agents in particular." Katz served as the first vice president of consumer education for the California Association of Health Underwriters and assisted in the establishment of that group's political action committee, now one of the largest in the country. He was also instrumental in assisting with the passage of a group health insurance reform measure for small firms known as AB 1672 in the 1990s and served as NAHU's president from 1999 to 2000, during which time he established the vision and mission statements. Staff Reporter Jacqueline Fox can be reached at (818) 316-3124 or by e-mail at: jfox@sfvbj.com. |
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