Story Archives of 'Hospitals'

Hospitals in the U.S. evolved following scientific principals and traditions of Western medicine. In our immigrant nation, those practices may conflict with a patient’s belief systems and notions of healing.

Hospitals in St. Paul, Minn., have served a large population of Hmong people from northern Laos since the 1970s. Over time, hospital administrators have learned to incorporate some Hmong practices into routine treatments by inviting spiritual healers inside patient wards.

This collaboration between Eastern and Western beliefs is part of a growing trend in hospitals to make concessions that can help them keep sick patients in medical care. Hospital administrators have turned off smoke detectors, cleared out surgical rooms, and extended visiting hours to accommodate Hmong healers.

Joining us to talk about this is Kathie Culhane-Pera, the associate medical director for West Side Community Health Services in St. Paul.

The New York Times: A Doctor for Disease, a Shaman for the Soul

(Photo courtesy UC Davis Health System)

Catholic Medical Center and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center have reached a tentative agreement to work together in Manchester.

Now, the state Attorney General must conduct a review of the proposed deal.

If it’s ultimately approved, the two sides insist they will be able to preserve the practices of a Catholic and a secular facility simultaneously.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports.

It’s June –report card season.
And New Hampshire hospitals are getting a report card of their own.
Two organizations concerned with health care cost and quality have released a scorecard that ranks the quality and affordability of New Hampshire’s hospitals.
People who pay the bills may be surprised to discover that they don’t always get what they pay for.
NHPR’s health reporter Elaine Grant has more.

State lawmakers are grappling with what may be one of the best kept secrets in health care. They’re called facilities fees – and they can add hundreds and even thousands of dollars to a medical bill.

Hospitals say the fees are essential to their bottom line. Critics point to them as a major contributor to the high cost of health care.

NHPR’s health reporter Elaine Grant has more.

The nation's economic problems have a long reach.

And those problems may begin affecting the health of residents in the most northern part of the state.

Many of them depend on the tiny Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital in Colebrook.

But the hospital's health is a little fragile itself.

NHPR Correspondent Chris Jensen has the story.