Concordance opens new Chicago location
Concordance announced the opening of its newest distribution center in Chicago, Illinois. The new location opened for operation during the last week of September. Concordance first began servicing Rush University Medical Center in early spring 2019 from a smaller location which Rush University Medical Center had been using prior to Concordance’s arrival.
“Concordance’s business is built on a foundation of outstanding customers who value local and regional relationships, and we quickly determined that Rush, and other local organizations who share Rush’s mission, are a perfect fit for our company,” said Concordance COO, Dave Myers.
After establishing a presence in Chicago, Concordance leadership made the strategic decision to move and re-establish the location in a larger facility, allowing greater flexibility in servicing Rush and additional Chicago area customers. The newest location is a 175,000-square-foot facility, with over 100,000-square-feet of racked space and room for expansion. Concordance now operates 20 distribution centers serving the healthcare industry across the U.S. These strategic locations allow the company to provide supply chain services to the entire continuum of care.
Walmart to expand standalone health center model, open new clinics
Walmart opened its first freestanding health center in September, and is planning to open several more, President and CEO Doug McMillon said in a commentary accompanying Walmart’s Q3 results. The company’s first standalone clinic, called Walmart Health, opened in Dallas, Ga. The 10,000-square-foot clinic offers a variety of services, ranging from primary care to labs to dental, in one facility. McMillon also discussed the company’s plans to open more standalone health centers. “We’re opening a second location soon, and I know we’ll continue to learn as we open several more and design the ideal model to provide customers with better and unique solutions for their everyday healthcare needs,” he said. The second health center will be in Calhoun, Ga.
Premier Inc. forms Contigo Health
Premier Inc. (Charlotte, NC) announced it has formed Contigo Health, a new organization focused on optimizing care through clinically led partnerships with large, national employers and their health plans. Contigo Health is designed to be a clinically driven network of health systems collaborating with employers and their health plans to deliver the best care possible for their employees. Contigo Health plans to launch pilot programs with employers by partnering with health systems in select markets to eliminate unwarranted variation in care delivery. The goal is to avoid unnecessary invasive treatments and focus on delivering the most appropriate care to improve quality and reduce costs. A group of 35 leading health systems, representing more than 440 hospitals, have already signed letters of intent to participate in Contigo Health’s provider network. Contigo Health is also working with several large national employer partners, which it expects to announce in the coming months. Jonathan R. Slotkin, MD, will serve as Contigo Health’s chief medical officer to lead its clinical innovation, strategy and operations, while continuing to care for patients as a neurosurgeon at Geisinger.
Seattle Children’s closes three operating rooms due to mold, second time in 2019
In November, Seattle Children’s closed three operating rooms due to two new infections caused by the Aspergillus mold, the same reason that forced the shutdown of all hospital’s operating rooms earlier in 2019. The mold was discovered during a routine air test conducted this week. Seattle Children’s closed four operating rooms from May 18 to July 4 due to the presence of Aspergillus mold. And three surgical patients became sick from the mold in 2018, including one death. Aspergillus is a common mold found outdoors and indoors. It is breathed in daily by people without getting sick, but people with lung disease or weakened immune systems, and especially organ or stem-cell transplant patients, are at a higher risk of developing aspergillosis, a disease caused by the mold.
GOJO announces next step in leadership transition plan
GOJO Industries announced Carey Jaros as its president and CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2020. She will succeed Mark Lerner, who will become senior advisor and president emeritus. In her new role, Jaros will continue her years-long partnership with Marcella Kanfer Rolnick, who was named executive chair of GOJO in May 2018. Jaros joined GOJO in 2016 as chief strategy officer and transitioned to the role of COO in July 2018. In his new role, Lerner will sponsor key Enterprise project teams, working as an advisor, coach, and mentor to GOJO leadership team members. He will also continue to serve on the GOJO Board of Directors.
CMS approves behavioral health pilot in Washington, D.C.
CMS has approved its first demonstration project to expand behavioral health treatment for Medicaid beneficiaries with serious mental illness living in Washington, D.C. The pilot is being launched with a Section 115 Medicaid waiver, which will allow Medicaid to reimburse short-term residential stays in psychiatric hospitals for patients with serious mental illness, opioid use disorder or other substance use disorders. Federal law previously kept states from receiving the federal Medicaid match for Medicaid patient stays in psychiatric hospitals. With this approval, CMS anticipates that there will be measurable, verifiable and actionable outcomes for Washington, D.C.’s Medicaid recipients.
Salesforce Health Cloud new features target medical device and pharmaceutical companies
Salesforce has rolled out features for its Health Cloud, targeting medical device and pharmaceutical companies. It is part of Salesforce’s effort to compete with SAP and Oracle with industry-specific software. Health Cloud includes new sales agreement capabilities as well as account-based forecasting. This is aimed to help sales teams manage device sales, volume, price and revenue commitments, and to jointly track with operations teams if customers are meeting their commitments.