Government Shutdown Nears As House Picks New Gambit Targeting Health Care – Video

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Government Shutdown Nears As House Picks New Gambit Targeting Health Care
Government Shutdown Nears As House Picks New Gambit Targeting Health Care Thwarted by the U.S. Senate #39;s insistence on funding the government without attachin...

By: WochitGeneralNews

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Government Shutdown Nears As House Picks New Gambit Targeting Health Care - Video

Nurses, Health Care Workers Picket Over Staffing Levels

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Funding health care has becoming a national issue with the implementation of President Obama's health care plan; but the timing is a coincidence.

Tuesday, dozens of nurses and health care workers picked up their signs and bullhorns and took their argument to the streets outside Deaconess Hospital in Spokane and Valley Hospital in Spokane Valley: "put patient care first and restore safe staffing levels."

Registered Nurse and Service Employees International Union member Angela Crigger was among them. She told KHQ the hospital ratio used to be one nurse to four or five patients, but now it's one to six. While that may not sound like a huge change, she says the effect is compounded because aides and support staff have been cut on top of that.

"Now some days we don't have an aid, we don't have secretaries to answer the phone, sometimes there are two nurses on the entire floor," Crigger explained.

She went to Olympia to testify before the Health Care and Wellness committee a few months ago and also says hospital officials are violating Washington law (RCW 70.41.420) by not going through the safe-staffing committee when making ratio adjustments.

Also at Tuesday's picket was Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart. He told KHQ he recently met with a few doctors when one told him, "I hate sending my patients to Valley Hospital because of all the cuts they've had."

"That's what you have when you have a for-profit system, you continually cut back in order to make profits, but patients suffer when that happens, when we cut nurses on the front lines," Stuckart added.

Hospital administrators provided this written statement in response to the picketing:

"Deaconess Hospital is operating as usual today and our top priority is the care and safety of our patients, employees and visitors. All inpatient, outpatient and emergency services are available and all surgeries and diagnostic procedures are continuing as scheduled."

The two sides are scheduled to come together again tomorrow for collective bargaining.

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Nurses, Health Care Workers Picket Over Staffing Levels

McLaren Health Care Names New Chief Operating Officer

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FLINT, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

McLaren Health Care has hired Michael Taylor as executive vice president/chief operating officer to help administer all hospital and related subsidiary operations across the entire organization. More particularly, Taylor will work to establish systemwide goals in relation to quality outcomes, patient-experience initiatives and financial performance, as well as develop and carry out plans and policies in collaboration with McLaren leadership. When appropriate, he will also serve as a liaison between McLaren Health Care and various community, public and governmental organizations.

Adding Michael Taylor as chief operating officer to the McLaren team was a natural step in our organizations progression, said Phil Incarnati, president and CEO of McLaren Health Care. As we continue to grow and expand, Michaels more than 30 years of experience as a hospital system executive will allow him to help facilitate the integration of each of our subsidiaries with an eye toward operational efficiencies and exceptional quality standards.

Taylor most recently served as senior vice president for Dignity Health Sacramento, part of Dignity Health, a San Francisco-based not-for-profit health care system of 40 hospitals with annual net revenues exceeding $11 billion. In this role, he oversaw eight general acute care hospitals and two specialty hospitals in the Sacramento region, reducing regional costs by $74 million through integration and consolidation strategies.

Prior to Dignity Health, Taylor served as senior vice president, operations, for Baylor Health Care System, a not-for-profit system located in Dallas, Texas, with 14 hospitals and annual system revenues of $3.8 billion. He has also held executive administrative positions at MedCath, Inc., in Tucson, Ariz.; Oakwood Healthcare in Dearborn, Mich.; and Deaconess Service Corporation in Evansville, Ind.

Im extremely excited about joining McLaren Health Care, said Taylor. McLaren provides services to an impressive market, and based upon data relative to quality outcomes, patient experiences and economics, the organization has produced exceptional results. All of this indicates that McLaren is moving in the right direction and allows for future opportunities.

Originally from the Richmond, Va., area, Taylor earned a bachelors degree in health care management from the Medical College of Virginia. He also holds a masters degree in management from Purdue University and a masters degree in public administration from the University of Southern California. He is a fellow of the American College of Health Care Administrators and a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Taylor and his wife, Maureen, will reside in Fenton, Mich.

About McLaren Health Care

With headquarters in Flint, Mich., McLaren Health Care is one of the largest health care providers in the state with a system that reaches more than half of Michigan residents through more than 200 locations, 17,400 employees and 21,000 network physicians. McLaren Health Care had net revenues of $2.5 billion in 2012 and has achieved double-digit growth each year since 1989. The nonprofit system includes medical centers in Bay City, Flint, Lapeer, Lansing, Mount Clemens, Mount Pleasant, Petoskey and Pontiac. Additional health care services are provided at McLaren Clarkston; McLaren Bay Special Care in Bay City; McLaren Orthopedic Hospital in Lansing; and McLaren Proton Therapy Center in Flint. McLaren Health Care also operates McLaren Medical Group, an employed physician network; McLaren Homecare Group, an award-winning home health, hospice and medical supplies provider; McLaren Health Plan, a licensed HMO offering benefit plans for commercial businesses and Medicaid recipients; and McLaren Cancer Institute, the largest cancer care network of its kind in the state. For more information, visit mclaren.org.

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McLaren Health Care Names New Chief Operating Officer

Health care website experiences glitch

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The Affordable Care Act launched Tuesday, but many page visitors saw error messages

A federally operated website designed to help people choose health care plans under the Affordable Care Act experienced some glitches on its opening day.

Many who visited http://www.healthcare.gov saw error messages, most of which resulted from the high traffic to the site, said Jeremiah Samples, assistant to the secretary for the state Department of Health and Human Resources.

Some error messages told visitors an account had not been created yet. Others said a timeout had occurred or that the site was experiencing high traffic, Samples said.

However, the state website, http://www.wvinroads.org, which was meant to help state residents determine their eligibility for different kinds of assistance, had a good launch, Samples said.

Residents can use the state site to determine whether they qualify for programs like Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, long-term care, Medicare Premium Assistance, cash assistance/work training, home energy assistance and school clothing vouchers.

Ineligible residents are directed to the federal website.

In the last two weeks, about 45,000 West Virginians signed up for automatic enrollment in the Medicaid program, according to The Associated Press.

"No major problems as of yet have been identified," Samples said. "We are early into the process but I'm not hearing any major issues taking place in state offices."

Other organizations in the state also offered a helping hand to understand the new health care exchange marketplace or the Medicaid expansion.

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Health care website experiences glitch

McLaren Health Care Hires New Chief Information Officer

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FLINT, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

McLaren Health Care has named Ron Strachan as chief information officer to manage systemwide information technology functions. Strachans role will involve determining short- and long-term IT needs for McLaren and implementing an overall strategy with regard to computer and systems development, hardware acquisition, and integration.

The realities of the new market economy in health care coupled with technical medical advances, new federal and state regulations, and the need to integrate technology throughout the McLaren system to benefit our patients, physicians and staff demand that we have expert IT talent, said Phil Incarnati, president and CEO of McLaren Health Care. Ron Strachan has an excellent track record of implementing technology in innovative yet affordable ways in his previous positions. Hell be an asset to the McLaren system as we continue to grow and expand.

With nearly 30 years of experience, Strachan most recently served as network chief information officer for Indianapolis-based Community Network Health, a nonprofit health system with more than 200 sites of care and affiliates throughout central Indiana. In this role, he oversaw more than 150 IT professionals and led the efforts that earned the organization multiple Health Cares Most Wired awards.

Additionally, Strachan has held similar positions at WellStar Health System in Marietta, Ga.; HealthEast Care System in St. Paul, Minn.; Matria Healthcare in Marietta, Ga.; and Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio. While employed at WellStar Health System, he was twice named a finalist for the Georgia CIO of the Year award, presented by the Georgia CIO Leadership Association.

Im thrilled to be joining McLaren Health Care, said Strachan. Its a strong health care system that has remarkable geographic reach across Michigan and beyond. Through the years, Ive paid close attention to the organizations growth and have been highly impressed with its ability to provide exceptional clinical care while remaining fiscally solvent.

A native of Lincoln Park, Mich., Strachan earned a bachelors degree in business administration from Davenport University in Dearborn, Mich. He also holds a masters degree in administration from Central Michigan University. He has been a member of the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society since 1993.

Strachan and his wife, Chris, plan to relocate from Indiana to Michigan.

About McLaren Health Care

With headquarters in Flint, Mich., McLaren Health Care is annually recognized as one of the top integrated health networks in the nation. McLaren is one of the largest health care providers in the state with a system that reaches more than half of Michigan residents through more than 200 locations, 17,400 employees and 21,000 network physicians. McLaren Health Care had net revenues of $2.5 billion in 2012 and has achieved double-digit growth each year since 1989. The nonprofit system includes medical centers in Bay City, Flint, Lapeer, Lansing, Mount Clemens, Mount Pleasant, Petoskey and Pontiac. Additional health care services are provided at McLaren Clarkston; McLaren Bay Special Care in Bay City; McLaren Orthopedic Hospital in Lansing; and McLaren Proton Therapy Center in Flint. McLaren Health Care also operates McLaren Medical Group, an employed physician network; McLaren Homecare Group, an award-winning home health, hospice and medical supplies provider; McLaren Health Plan, a licensed HMO offering benefit plans for commercial businesses and Medicaid recipients; and McLaren Cancer Institute, the largest cancer care network of its kind in the state. For more information, visit mclaren.org.

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McLaren Health Care Hires New Chief Information Officer

OncoSec Medical to Present at the Cancer Vaccines and Gene Therapy Meeting

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SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

OncoSec Medical Inc. (ONCS), a company developing its advanced-stage ImmunoPulse DNA-based immunotherapy and NeoPulse therapy to treat solid tumors, has announced it will be presenting at the Cancer Vaccines and Gene Therapy Meeting at The Desmond Malvern Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Richard Heller, Professor at Old Dominion University, will be presenting pre-clinical data on the use of electroporation to deliver plasmid IL-12 in solid tumors in a presentation titled Gene Electrotransfer as an Effective Delivery Tool. This presentation will take place on Thursday, October 3 at 3:30 p.m. EST.

Dr. Adil Daud, principal investigator and co-director of melanoma research at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, will be presenting an update to OncoSecs Phase II melanoma immune response data, which will include IL-12 expression findings in a presentation titled Gene Electrotransfer in Solid Tumors. This presentation will take place on Friday, October 4 at 1:00 p.m. EST.

About the Cancer Vaccines and Gene Therapy Meeting

The Cancer Vaccines and Gene Therapy Meeting will bring together important leaders to present and discuss the latest approaches and technologies used to develop promising anti-cancer therapeutics.

About OncoSec Medical Inc.

OncoSec Medical Inc. isa biopharmaceutical companydeveloping its advanced-stage ImmunoPulse DNA-based immunotherapy and NeoPulse therapy to treat solid tumors.ImmunoPulse and NeoPulse therapiesaddress an unmet medical needandrepresenta potential solution for less invasive and less expensive therapies that are able to minimize detrimental effects resulting from currently available cancer treatments such as surgery, systemic chemotherapy or immunotherapy, and other treatment alternatives. OncoSec Medical's core technology is based upon its proprietaryuse of anelectroporation platform to enhancethedelivery and uptake of a locally delivered DNA-based immunocytokine (ImmunoPulse) or chemotherapeutic agent(NeoPulse). Treatment ofvarious solid cancersusing these targetedanti-cancer agentshas demonstratedselective destruction of cancerous cellswhile potentially sparing healthy normal tissues during early and late stage clinical trials. OncoSec's clinical programs include three Phase II clinical trials for ImmunoPulse targeting lethal skin cancers. More information is available athttp://www.oncosec.com/.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements in this release that are not historical facts may be considered such "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are based on management's current preliminary expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause our results to differ materially and adversely from the statements contained herein. Some of the potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those predicted include our ability to raise additional funding, our ability to acquire, develop or commercialize new products, uncertainties inherent in pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, unexpected new data, safety and technical issues, competition, and market conditions. These and additional risks and uncertainties are more fully described in OncoSec Medical's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. OncoSec Medical disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date they are made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

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OncoSec Medical to Present at the Cancer Vaccines and Gene Therapy Meeting

Research and Markets: Gene Therapy Drug Pipeline Analysis Report 2013

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/nnxfrm/gene_therapy_drug) has announced the addition of the "Gene Therapy Drug Pipeline Analysis" report to their offering.

Gene Therapy Drug Pipeline Analysis gives a comprehensive insight on the various drugs being developed for the treatment of multiple disease based upon Gene Therapy. Research report covers all the ongoing drug development in various development phases.

Each drug profiles include detailed information like: Originator, Owner, Collaborator, Technology Provider, Licensee, Development Phase, Development Indications, Mechanism of Action, Country of Development and detailed analysis on the development process.

Insight for each drug profile in development phase enables the reader to identify and understand the Gene Therapy associated with the various diseases.

This report enables pharmaceutical companies, collaborators and other associated stake holders to identify and analyze the available investment opportunity in the Gene Therapy based drug development process.

Following parameters for each drug profile in development phase are covered in Gene Therapy Drug Pipeline Analysis research report:

- Drug Profile Overview

- Alternate Names for Drug

- Active Indication

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Research and Markets: Gene Therapy Drug Pipeline Analysis Report 2013

Nukanti’s capoeira project in Bogota – Playing for Freedom / Jugando por la Libertad – Video

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Nukanti #39;s capoeira project in Bogota - Playing for Freedom / Jugando por la Libertad
Jugando por la Libertad (Playing for Freedom) is a project teaching capoeira to Colombian children -- living in two conflict and extremely poor areas of Bogo...

By: nukanti

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Nukanti's capoeira project in Bogota - Playing for Freedom / Jugando por la Libertad - Video