Displaying items tagged: healthcare

MUSKEGON — Mercy Health Muskegon has begun to delay elective surgeries as needed and is weighing whether to open additional emergency beds as COVID-19 cases surge.

HOLLAND — Raising nearly $21.6 million gives Shoulder Innovations Inc. the capital needed to scale up operations and bring new products to market.

 GRAND RAPIDS — Perrigo Co. plc’s planned North America headquarters in downtown Grand Rapids adds a major new player to the Medical Mile academic, research and health care cluster as well as a potential new partner for Michigan State University.

Against the backdrop of what behavioral health experts say is a worsening crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic, state lawmakers are weighing a number of bills to increase access to mental health care in Michigan.

GRAND RAPIDS — Spectrum Health plans to develop two new facilities for rehabilitation and nursing home care in Grand Rapids, plus a third center specializing in outpatient orthopedic surgeries.

Dr. Jurgen Luders connected years ago with Golden, Colo.-based Reven Pharmaceuticals Inc. after a friend and former colleague at the Cleveland Clinic told him about his own involvement with the company. Luders visited Reven to learn more and ended up joining its advisory board. He later became medical director at Reven, which is developing a powerful anti-inflammatory drug called Rejuveinix, or RJX, that shows promise in preventing and reversing conditions caused by inflammation. Luders — the chief of neurosurgery at Mercy Health Hauenstein Neurosciences who is board certified in regenerative medicine — spoke with MiBiz about his work with Reven, RJX’s potential for treating COVID-19 patients, and innovation in health care.

Grand Rapids-based home health care provider Atrio Home Health Lakeshore was already looking for a telehealth platform to remotely monitor clients’ conditions before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stryker Corp. will have to divest ankle and finger implant businesses under a proposed agreement with federal trade regulators to allow a $4 billion deal to proceed with Wright Medical Group N.V., a Netherlands-based maker of various orthopedic products.

Officials at large West Michigan health systems say they are now treating as many COVID-19 patients as they did back in the spring when the pandemic hit hard, brought daily routines to a halt and hospitalizations were at their peak.

Health insurance open enrollment for 2021 starts Nov. 1 with small increases in rates for individual and small employer health care policies.

KALAMAZOO — Stryker Corp.’s sales and earnings rebounded in the third quarter after falling sharply in the prior three months and early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

GRAND RAPIDS — The Grand Rapids African American Health Institute has named Vanessa Greene as CEO.

Leaders at a number of health systems and hospitals in Michigan today affirmed their commitment to keeping policies and practices in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

GRAND RAPIDS — Johnson & Johnson hopes to bring a COVID-19 vaccine to market in the first half of 2021 in what would be a fraction of the time usually needed to develop and introduce a safe and effective new product.

Detroit-based Health Alliance Plan has extended a Medicare Advantage plan into seven more counties, continuing the insurance agency’s expansion into West Michigan.

MUSKEGON — A long-term acute care provider that for years leased space at Mercy Health’s Hackley Hospital campus plans to close its Muskegon location by the end of the month.

State lawmakers have given final approval to bipartisan legislation that aims to curtail surprise medical billing in Michigan, sending the bills to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

GRAND RAPIDS — Catherine’s Health Center, a nonprofit health care provider for underserved patients in Kent County, plans to open two or three new clinics this fall after securing designation as a Federally Qualified Health Center.

Metro Health-University of Michigan Health likely will proceed with seeking state approval to perform open-heart surgery in Grand Rapids, a move that would bring more competition for the procedure to the local market.

Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services and the operator of a suburban Detroit psychiatric hospital each want to develop new inpatient mental health facilities in Kent County.

Michigan ranked second-lowest in the nation for what employers and insurance carriers paid hospitals for care compared to payments hospitals received from Medicare from 2016 to 2018.

Many of us have had that awkward Zoom moment.

GRAND RAPIDS — Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing Inc. will produce a COVID-19 vaccine under development by a Belgian pharmaceutical company.

As the weather cools and winter approaches, health professionals warn about complacency and encourage residents and businesses to remain vigilant in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kent County Health Department officials are reporting a recent decline in the number of COVID-19 tests being scheduled and administered at its testing sites, which are now operating below capacity.

Alegislative effort to curtail surprise medical billing in Michigan has gained attention from national health care organizations shifting their focus to states amid stalled efforts federally.

The Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual Athena Award was created in 1989 to recognize professional excellence, community service and assistance to women for helping attain professional leadership skills. This year’s winner is Tasha Blackmon, who has served three years as president and CEO of Grand Rapids-based Cherry Health, the largest Federally Qualified Health Center in Michigan that provides care in underserved areas.

KALAMAZOO — Bronson Healthcare Group plans to develop a new inpatient psychiatric center in Battle Creek by 2022 that would more than double its licensed inpatient beds for behavioral health care.

Health Alliance Plan’s entry into the West Michigan market comes amid a broader strategic push to grow and become a larger statewide player for employee health benefits.

Even with the economic downturn, uncertainty and high unemployment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, employers still need to look strategically at employee health care benefits to retain and attract talent.