The Palm Beach Post

Posts Tagged ‘Health’

St. Lucie sheriff signs on with health-care provider instead of county clinic

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 by TCPalm.com

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — County Sheriff Ken Mascara opted to defray health-care costs by signing with a local health-care provider as opposed to joining with the proposed county-owned health clinic.

Mascara said a new two-year contract with a two-year option with Physicians Immediate Care builds a foundation with a local company while eliminating the expense of purchasing new equipment and costs for upgrading a building.

“I just didn’t want to re-invent the wheel,” Mascara said. (more…)

Kenneth E. Douglas of Hobe Sound, a real-life Indiana Jones, dies

Friday, July 31st, 2009 by TCPalm.com

HOBE SOUND — Before Harrison Ford donned a brown leather hat and whip, Kenneth E. Douglas’s two sons knew their father as the real-life Indiana Jones.

But Douglas, who was befriended by a rocket scientist, served as a police chief in tribal Liberia and had his plane attacked by a South American anaconda, was more than just a thrill-seeker.

Douglas also had the amicable Forrest Gump-like knack for running into and befriending some of the world’s most influential people across all walks of life. (more…)

Some Treasure Coast government jobs come with lucrative severance pay

Monday, July 13th, 2009 by TCPalm.com

When the Martin County Commission fired Duncan Ballantyne from his $147,250 a year job as county administrator on St. Patrick’s Day, a pot of gold awaited the seasoned bureaucrat.

For starters, Ballantyne remained on the county payroll for a month after he cleaned out his office because he was entitled to a 30-day notice of his termination.

Since his official last day on April 23, Ballantyne has collected a total of $84,451 as a result of the severance package he negotiated when he was hired in the fall of 2005, county records show. And his initial severance period doesn’t end until Aug. 23.

Ballantyne’s severance package is not unusual for local government managers and attorneys on the Treasure Coast. In fact, 13 local government managers and attorneys in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties are entitled to severance pay for six months, or longer, if they are fired without cause. (more…)

Parents owed money after Port St. Lucie day care’s abrupt closing

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 by TCPalm.com

PORT ST. LUCIE — A lock on the door was the only notice Jessica Rufo got that Hayes World Day Care & Learning Center had closed.

Rufo, a St. Lucie County School District employee, is keeping her 3-year-old daughter at home for the summer, but had left Hayes World about $500 to hold a spot for Elizabeth in the fall. Driving by the Darwin Boulevard center this weekend, Rufo noticed locks on the door.

A message on Hayes World’s phone service said the day-care center is “temporarily closed,” but offered no other information.
(more…)

HMO terminates contract with clinics serving more than 1,000 Medicare patients in Indian River, St. Lucie counties

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 by TCPalm.com

VERO BEACH — More than 1,000 Medicare patients were impacted by a decision by a health maintenance organization this month to end its affiliation with a local clinic, which has offices in Indian River and St. Lucie counties.

Quality Health Plans, of Tampa, which is contracted to offer a Medicare Advantage Plan through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has terminated its contract with University Medical Clinics as of June 30.

The company “felt that this was necessary due to multitude of reasons; abrupt closures of UMC clinics thus affecting patient care and accessibility, UMC threatening patient abandonment, inability of UMC to maintain financial solvency,” according to an e-mail sent Monday from Quality Health Care.
(more…)

Capt. Hiram’s, Vito’s receive ‘critical’ health violations by state inspectors

Friday, June 26th, 2009 by Post Staff

Capt. Hiram’s, a popular Sebastian restaurant, was one of two Treasure Coast eateries that received more than 25 violations in the most recent round of health inspections released by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

State records show restaurant inspectors found 26 violations, 16 of them “critical,” during an inspection June 16 of restaurant facilities at the tiki-style resort, 1606 Indian River Drive in Sebastian.

Vito’s Italian Restaurant, 11005 S. Ocean Drive in Jensen Beach, also had 26 violations, 18 of them “critical,” during a June 18 inspection, records show.

An Okeechobee County restaurant had no violations. State inspectors gave a perfect score to Okeechobee Livestock Market Restaurant, 1055 N. Highway 98 in Okeechobee, during a June 16 inspection.

The department conducts inspections through the Division of Hotels and Restaurants throughout the state.

Each inspection report is a “snapshot” of conditions present at the time of the inspection. State inspectors can return for multiple visits stemming from one inspection until problems are corrected.
TCPalm.com

Incoming seventh-graders will have to get newly required vaccine

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 by TCPalm.com

Before incoming seventh-graders step into their first classes this fall, they must brave the sting of a newly required vaccine against whooping cough and two other diseases.

Local health departments are offering the Tdap vaccination against tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis (whooping cough) this summer at health clinics or at residents’ request so students can be prepared for the start of school.

The new state requirement for students to take the vaccine before entering the seventh grade stems from concerns that adolescents and adults immunized against whooping cough in infancy are contracting the disease when they’re older. Before this year, the vaccine for adolescents, licensed in 2005, was suggested but not required. Counties have offered the vaccine every year.
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Infants’ deaths at Miami Children’s Hospital remain a mystery; Were born at Lawnwood Hospital

Thursday, June 11th, 2009 by Miami Herald

MIAMI — After a long and exhaustive investigation, the deaths of two infants and the sickening of a third at Miami Children’s Hospital is a medical mystery.

The infants, born extremely prematurely, their immune systems compromised, were in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit when two of them died of a common yet lethal bacterium in March. (more…)

St. Lucie County wants to pay less for inmate hospital care

Monday, May 18th, 2009 by TCPalm.com

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — St. Lucie County officials say they’re tired of paying higher-than-Medicaid rates in hospitals for their jailed inmates.

St. Lucie County is lobbying the state to force hospitals to accept the Medicaid rate for inmate medical care. But hospitals are warning that forcing more people on the Medicaid rolls could increase costs to taxpayers.

As it is now, when a Medicaid patient goes to the hospital, the county does not get the bill. Hospitals are required to accept and treat indigent patients. If that same person needs medical care at a hospital while an inmate, the county — and ultimately taxpayers — pay the bill, St. Lucie County Commissioners say. (more…)

Stuart entices city workers to retire early with $20,000, added benefits

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 by TCPalm.com

STUART — To contend with the ongoing budgetary uncertainties facing local governments, Stuart City commissioners Monday unanimously approved an early retirement incentive package for city workers.

In addition to regular retirement benefits, city employees who would be eligible for retirement by Sept. 30 can opt to receive 36 months of paid insurance at their current coverage and premium level or a lump-sum, before-tax payout of $20,000, said Stuart City Manager Dan Hudson.
(more…)

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