Construction of new hospitals has flatlined somewhat in 2012 while healthcare executives measure the impact of the Affordable Care Act. According to Health Facilities Management magazine, “Industry insiders expect roughly the same amount of spending on hospital construction in 2012 as in 2011, with specialty hospital projects and infrastructure upgrades helping to offset the drop in acute care hospitals. The survey shows that the shift in priorities from traditional hospitals to smaller, neighborhood or satellite facilities is accelerating.” A study conducted by HFM in regards to healthcare expansion plans reported that, “Future projects most frequently cited by survey parti­cipants in response to reforms are emergency departments, by 17 percent; outpatient facilities in neighborhood settings, by 16 percent; medical office build­ing expansions, 16 percent; and primary care clinics and urgent care centers in neighborhoods, both 14 percent.” Trauma Center Openings on the Rise Since 2009, more than 200 trauma centers have opened across the country with an additional 75 hospitals seeking approval to add centers to their operations, according to Kaiser Health News. Leading the charge in trauma center development is HCA, a Nashville-based healthcare company. HCA has added, or intends to add, 20 new trauma centers to its network in southern states such [+]

Time for Healthcare Employers to Counsel Hospital Staff about the Importance of Flu Shots Flu season begins October 1st, lasts until May and peaks in the coldest months of the year, December and January, respectively. Hospitals are advertising the availability of flu shots in earnest, urging healthcare workers to get vaccinated at participating clinics. Healthcare Staffing Employers across America wants its employees to know that vaccination supplies for the 2010/2011 influenza season are in abundance this year—for everyone and not just high risk groups; in 2009, the vaccine for the H1NI swine flu virus was in short supply and worried healthcare officials should a pandemic occur. In response to this concern, New York was the first state in the U.S. to require healthcare workers to be vaccinated; the September 2009 mandate stuck, and, to date, healthcare employers in many states require hospital staff to get a flu shot by a certain date or risk termination. Reasons cited by hospital staff for refusing the vaccine run the gambit from religious to fear of adverse effects; hospital officials argue that the flu shot, developed by the Center for Disease Control, is a life saving measure, to [+]