Legislators were busy on the floor last week as they began to bring closure to the 2008 session. A majority of time was spent deliberating on the cigarette tax, immigration, the budget and gubernatorial vetoes. There are three more legislative days before the General Assembly adjourns sine die Thursday.

Cigarette Tax

To briefly recap what transpired, Governor Mark Sanford vetoed the cigarette tax Tuesday afternoon. Intense, lengthy debate between the members of the House of Representatives ensued before they voted 57-54 to sustain the Governor’s veto. The vote count is listed below. Please take a minute or two to thank all of those who voted to override the veto and recognize, in particular, the following legislators for their extraordinary leadership:

Representatives Rex Rice (R-Easley), Harry Ott (D-St. Matthews), Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D-Orangeburg), Carl Gullick (R-York), and Senators Thomas Alexander (R-Walhalla), and John Land (D-Manning). Use these links for contact information: House of Representatives and Senate.

Representatives voting to override the veto (in our favor):

Representatives who voting to sustain the veto:

Representatives not voting:

Despite the failure to override the Governor’s veto, our efforts to increase the cigarette tax with revenues dedicated for healthcare will continue. During the interim, SCHA will be analyzing the cigarette tax movement over the last several months and developing a legislative strategy for 2009.

Appropriations and Critical Needs Nursing Initiative

On Thursday the House overrode all of the Governor’s vetoes on H.4801, the $34.5 million Capital Reserve Fund Appropriations bill, which included $2.4 million for the SC LightRail network at Clemson, the University of South Carolina, and the Medical University of South Carolina and $2.5 million for Hydrogen Grants at the SC Research Authority. The House then sustained the first three of the Governor’s vetoes on H.4800, the $7.2 billion General Appropriations bill and adjourned.

On Tuesday, the House will consider the remaining 62 vetoes. Included in Governor Sanford’s veto message is the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion from 150% to 200% of the Federal Poverty Level and $21,279,557 in funding. SC Health and Human Services began signing up uninsured children a few weeks ago. Coverage could extend to at least 70,000 additional low-income children.

Please contact your House members and ask them to “please vote to override the Governor’s SCHIP veto in the budget.”

Other important health related initiatives vetoed by the Governor include:

DHHS: Prior Authorization Exemptions

DHHS: Carry Forward Funds-Health Initiatives, $1,283,695

MUSC: Rural Dentist Program, $250,000

MUSC: Disproportionate Share, $7,000,000

Critical Needs Nursing Initiative

S.1022 (Peeler), the SC Critical Needs Nursing Initiative, passed the House and has been enrolled for ratification. Once ratified, Governor Sanford has five days, excluding Sunday, to either sign or veto the bill. Should he choose not to take action, the bill automatically becomes law.

Behavioral Health

The Senate amended and adopted H.4899 (Edge), a Joint Resolution creating the Behavioral Health Care Services Delivery Study Committee. The bill is back before the House for concurrence which we expect to happen. As amended, the bill will allow both House and Senate staff to work with committee members and state agencies when conducting research.

TheManagementAcademy

A group of about 25 current and future hospital leaders from across the state met last week in Columbia for the second session of TheManagementAcademy.

The session included a grassroots advocacy discussion led by SCHA’s Advocacy Staff where participants were able to learn about the legislative process, participate in case studies of recently passed legislation, and observe committee meetings on the State House grounds. Participants also learned essential skills for all managers and leaders on personal planning and organization.

Kathy Helms from Ogletree Deakins also facilitated a session on the legal issues affecting managers. She provided a basic overview of major laws affecting healthcare managers and updates of current cases in an effort to help managers learn the most effective way to handle similar situations.

“The greatest benefit thus far is undoubtedly the networking and learning how other hospitals are tackling various challenges,” said Camille Reams Mills, Palmetto Health Director of HealthWorks. “We all have a commonality in our work and being able to talk with others with varying perspectives is invaluable.”

TheManagementAcademy is a formal, yearlong program designed to help hospitals develop their employees into confident, capable managers and leaders by following a curriculum that addresses opportunities and challenges unique to South Carolina hospitals.

Participants are already putting what they’ve learned into use.

“I have used many tools from the first session, Essential Skills for the Health Care Manager,” said Kelly Goodson, Clinical Assistant Manager at MUSC. “I have noticed an improvement in my approach to difficult situations.”

For more information on the program or to find out how your hospital can get involved, contact Lara Hewitt at (803) 609-0037.

SCHealthJobs

It is time to renew the contract for the SCHA Recruitment Services program, SCHealthJobs.net. The new contract year will begin on July 1, so don’t miss out. There have been several additions to the program this year including important website enhancements.

We have added new recruitment fairs targeting students, as well as professionals in the areas of nursing and physical therapy. We have also included recruitment at the National Black Nurses and National Association of Hispanic Nurses annual conferences to enhance our minority recruitment efforts. Another new feature is automated job posting onto SCHealthJobs. Contact Rachel Branham or (803) 603-1553 for contracts and more information.

SCHA Leadership Summit

SCHA’s Seventh Annual Leadership Summit will be held July 9–11 at the Wild Dunes Resort in Charleston. The Summit provides the opportunity for CEO’s and COO’s to identify and discuss issues that lead to the overall priorities for SCHA. The Summit also provides excellent networking and fellowship with fellow CEO’s and COO’s from around the state. Registration deadline is July 2. Questions can be directed to Lucy Marcum at (803) 744-3501 or Suzanne Jordan at (803) 744-3529.

Become a Grassroots Rock Star!

The South Carolina Hospital Association will host a Grassroots Advocacy Educational Program “Become a Grassroots Advocacy Rock Star” on August 27–28 at the William L. Yates Conference Center in Columbia. The purpose of this program is to encourage advocacy involvement at the state and federal levels, to educate on issues pertaining to healthcare in South Carolina, and to emphasize the importance of the grassroots voice.

Human Resources directors, recruiters, nursing directors, department Directors, marketing & public relations directors, and any other hospital staff with an advocacy interest are encouraged to save the date for this exciting new program. Further details will be sent out in mid-June. For any questions, please contact Lara Hewitt or (803) 744-3518 or Elizabeth Burt or (803) 744-3541.

2008 Distinguished Hospital Trustee

It’s not too late to make nominations for this year’s Distinguished Hospital Trustee of the Year award. Please fax your nomination to the SCHA Awards Committee at (803) 796-2938. The deadline is June 30. For any questions contact Ree Mallison.

Formal presentation of the award will be made at the Trustee, Administrator and Physician (TAP) Conference, September 18-20 in Hilton Head.

The Medical University of South Carolina featured on medical Web site

The Medical University of South Carolina is one of three top hospitals in the nation to be featured on The Doctor’s Channel, a Web site that allows doctors to learn from one another through videos. Seattle Children’s Hospital and Swedish Medical Center, also in Seattle, are the other two hospitals featured in more than 100 new videos from doctors that have been released on the site.

Doctors at each facility are providing clinical updates to The Doctor’s Channel in the form of short, one- to two-minute streaming videos in which they share their findings, ideas and opinions. They join Temple University Medical Center, Tulane University Medical Center and University of Chicago among top hospitals and medical centers whose doctors are providing content to The Doctor’s Channel.

The newly-posted videos cover an array of topics including pediatrics, surgical techniques, cancer screening and novel treatments for tumors. The clips are available not only to doctors but to anyone who visits The Doctor’s Channel. Since its launch in August 2007, The Doctor’s Channel has added more than 700 videos from physicians across the country.

“Because of new knowledge and technology, physicians must continually learn,” said Patrick J. Cawley, MD, Executive Medical Director of MUSC. “But between patient visits, educating residents and medical students, and pursuing research, it’s very easy to get so bogged down that you don’t have time to converse with your colleagues. The Doctor’s Channel provides an easy way for physicians to learn from each other without leaving their desks. This site helps us stay on the cutting edge of medicine and highlight the incredible work our staff is doing.”

The site includes short, concise, one-to two-minute streaming video clips designed to get to the point with insights and opinions from experts in 35 different specialties as well as community and lifestyle features that help doctors stay on top of the latest news, ideas and information.

SOURCE: The Doctor’s Channel/PR Newswire

Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital

Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital recently celebrated its grand opening.

The Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital, located at Palmetto Health Richland, a free-standing children’s hospital.

In 2005, Palmetto Health donated Seven Richland Medical Park, a building valued at more than $65 million, to be redesigned to become Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital. In addition to the building and a $10 million investment from Palmetto Health, the Palmetto Health Foundation initiated a $20 million capital campaign to renovate and restructure the location. The Foundation secured cash and pledges of more than $21 million.

“This is a dream come true, said Dr. Caughman Taylor, medical director of Palmetto Health Children’s Hospital. “Every physician, nurse or support person already is proud of the quality care that we provide to each patient and their family, but now we have the kind of facility needed to enhance that care. Every time I go through the facility, I get a warm feeling knowing that future children and families will now have the best facility and care when they need us the most. It’s like Christmas in summer.”

Construction of the building began in March 2007. The new hospital includes: expanding the number of children’s inpatient beds from 78 to 96, creating a new 18-bed state-of-the-art Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and Pediatric Intermediate Intensive Care Unit (PIICU) expanding its capacity from 14 to 18 beds, enlarging PICU and PIICU rooms to accommodate equipment and professional staff required to care for critically ill and injured children, building a new bank of elevators allowing transport of patients and essential equipment to tertiary services, renovating Pediatric Surgery to allow all children to enter through the Children’s Hospital, and adding a family resource library, multi-purpose room and other amenities that will enable community outreach, staff and educational activities.