Sandy babies flood local hospitals
Posted: Thursday, July 25, 2013 6:45 am | Updated: 3:28 pm, Thu Jul 25, 2013.
By Peg Quann Staff writer
Bonnie Prince George isn’t the only newborn in the news these days.
Sandy’s babies are arriving.
They’re filling hospitals along the Jersey coast, nine months after the superstorm struck last fall.
Those candlelit nights in late October and November, when many couples found themselves without lights or television, have led to a bumper crop of births now at some area hospitals, particularly in areas hit hard by the storm.
“We have seen an increase about 25 percent over what we expected, and some mothers have said their babies were conceived during Superstorm Sandy or during the power and cable outages afterwards,” said Jennifer Tornetta, a spokeswoman for AtlantiCare, the health system that oversees AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center’s two campuses in Atlantic City and Galloway, Atlantic County.
Maternity wards at hospitals in Monmouth and Ocean counties apparently are bulging. The Asbury Park Press reported that Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch had a 34 percent increase in births, and there was a 20 percent increase at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Brick over last year.
100 Top-Grossing Hospitals in America
Written by Molly Gamble | June 24, 2013
Here are the 100 top-grossing hospitals in the United States based on gross revenue, according to CMS cost report data analyzed by American Hospital Directory. Data are for short term acute-care hospitals, critical access hospitals and children’s hospitals.
Note: The hospital total patient revenues reported here are reported to CMS by the hospitals in their most recent cost reports and, in some cases, may include patient revenue from other facilities that share a provider number with the main hospital.
1. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian — $11.87 billion
2. Cleveland Clinic — $10.51 billion
3. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles) — $9.40 billion
4. Florida Hospital Orlando — $8.81 billion
5. Stanford (Calif.) Hospital — $8.55 billion
6. New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center — $8.37 billion
7. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) — $7.41 billion
8. Montefiore Medical Center – Moses Division Hospital (Bronx, N.Y.) — $6.96 billion
9. University of California San Francisco Medical Center at Parnassus — $6.88 billion
10. Orlando (Fla.) Regional Medical Center — $6.70 billion
11. Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston) — $6.42 billion
12. University of California Davis Medical Center (Sacramento, Calif.) — $6.36 billion
13. Temple University Hospital (Philadelphia) — $5.92 billion
14. Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.) — $5.45 billion
15. Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital (Indianapolis) — $5.37 billion
16. Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (Columbus, Ohio) — $5.22 billion
17. Methodist Hospital (San Antonio) — $5.130 billion
18. Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Boston) — $5.10 billion
19. Crozer-Chester Medical Center (Upland, Pa.) — $4.85 billion
20. The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center — $4.84 billion 21. Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center — $4.83 billion
22. New York University Langone Medical Center — $4.83 billion
23. University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (Ann Arbor, Mich.) — $4.83 billion
24. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Philadelphia) — $4.78 billion
25. Duke University Hospital (Durham, N.C.) — $4.76 billion
26. Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago) — $4.63 billion
27. Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital — $4.61 billion
28. Baptist Medical Center (San Antonio) — $4.53 billion
29. Loma Linda (Calif.) University Medical Center — $4.48 billion
30. Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital — $4.44 billion
31. North Shore University Hospital (Manhasset, N.Y.) — $4.41 billion
32. Norton Hospital (Louisville, Ky.) — $4.28 billion
33. Lehigh Valley Hospital – Cedar Crest (Allentown, Pa.) — $4.26 billion
34. The Methodist Hospital (Houston) — $4.18 billion
35. UAB Hospital (Birmingham, Ala.) — $4.14 billion
36. Geisinger Medical Center (Danville, Pa.) — $4.05 billion
37. Jackson Memorial Hospital (Miami) — $3.94 billion
38. The University of Chicago Medical Center — $3.82 billion
39. Methodist University Hospital (Memphis, Tenn.) — $3.79 billion
40. Rush University Medical Center (Chicago) — $3.79 billion
41. Henry Ford Hospital (Detroit) — $3.78 billion
42. Carolinas Medical Center (Charlotte, N.C.) — $3.74 billion
43. Long Island Jewish Medical Center (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) — $3.69 billion
44. The Mount Sinai Medical Center (New York City) — $3.66 billion
45. Memorial Regional Hospital (Hollywood, Fla.) — $3.64 billion
46. Barnes-Jewish Hospital (St. Louis) — $3.64 billion
47. Scott & White Hospital (Temple, Texas) — $3.63 billion
48. CJW Medical Center – Chippenham Campus — $3.54 billion
49. The University of Kansas Hospital (Kansas City) — $3.50 billion 50. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (New Brunswick, N.J.) — $3.50 billion
51. Huntsville (Ala.) Hospital — $3.49 billion
52. Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center (Milwaukee) — $3.48 billion
53. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York City) — $3.47 billion
54. Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles) — $3.45 billion
55. Sharp Memorial Hospital (San Diego) — $3.45 billion 56. AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center – Atlantic City (N.J.) Campus — $3.43 billion
57. Parkland Hospital (Dallas) — $3.40 billion
58. Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital (Houston) — $3.38 billion
59. UMass Memorial Medical Center – University Campus (Worcester, Mass.) — $3.38 billion
60. Beth Israel Medical Center – Petrie Division (New York City) — $3.34 billion
61. Alexian Brothers Medical Center (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) — $3.34 billion
62. Baptist Hospital of Miami — $3.33 billion
63. Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak (Mich.) — $3.31 billion
64. University Hospitals Case Medical Center/University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital (Cleveland) — $3.27 billion
65. Abington (Pa.) Memorial Hospital — $3.25 billion
66. Evanston (Ill.) Hospital — $3.22 billion
67. Saint Luke’s Hospital – Bethlehem (Pa.) Campus — $3.18 billion
68. OSF Saint Francis Medical Center (Peoria, Ill.) — $3.18 billion
69. Doctors Medical Center of Modesto (Calif.) — $3.14 billion
70. VCU Medical Center (Richmond, Va.) — $3.12 billion
71. Saint Luke’s Episcopal Hospital (Houston) — $3.11 billion
72. Oklahoma University Medical Center (Oklahoma City) — $3.10 billion
73. Miami Valley Hospital (Dayton, Ohio) — $3.09 billion
74. Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center (Las Vegas) — $3.07 billion
75. Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center (Houston) — $3.07 billion
76. Riverside Methodist Hospital (Columbus, Ohio) — $3.06 billion
77. Hahnemann University Hospital (Philadelphia) — $3.03 billion
78. University of Virginia Medical Center (Charlottesville, Va.) — $3.03 billion
79. Virtua West Jersey Hospital Voorhees (N.J.) — $3.0 billion
80. Washington (D.C.) Hospital Center — $3.0 billion
81. University of California Irvine Medical Center (Orange, Calif.) — $2.98 billion
82. Saint Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center (Phoenix) — $2.98 billion
83. Sutter Memorial Hospital (Sacramento, Calif.) — $2.98 billion
84. Medical City Hospital (Dallas) — $2.96 billion 85. Saint Joseph’s Regional Medical Center (Paterson, N.J.) — $2.96 billion
86. John Muir Medical Center – Walnut Creek (Calif.) Campus — $2.95 billion
87. Covenant Medical Center – Lakeside Campus (Lubbock, Texas) — $2.89 billion
88. Swedish Medical Center – First Hill Campus (Seattle) — $2.88 billion
89. University of Colorado Hospital (Aurora) — $2.88 billion
90. University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview – University Campus (Minneapolis) — $2.87 billion
91. Shands at the University of Florida (Gainesville) — $2.87 billion
92. Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford (Palo Alto, Calif.) — $2.86 billion
93. Brookwood Medical Center (Birmingham, Ala.) — $2.84 billion
94. Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia — $2.82 billion
95. Las Palmas Medical Center (El Paso, Texas) — $2.81 billion
96. Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville (Fla.) — $2.81 billion
97. Saint Vincent Indianapolis Hospital — $2.81 billion
98. Community Regional Medical Center (Fresno, Calif.) — $2.80 billion
99.California Pacific Medical Center – Pacific Campus (San Francisco) — $2.79 billion
100. Abbott Northwestern Hospital (Minneapolis) — $2.77 billion
“I don’t know. I’d have to look at it closely,” said Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania. “I just haven’t read it that closely to know.”
68 Senators Vote to Create Incentive for Employers to Hire Amnestied Immigrants Over U.S. Citizens
9:49 AM, Jun 28, 2013 • By JOHN MCCORMACK
The immigration bill passed by the Senate Thursday afternoon would give some employers a financial incentive to employ “registered provisional immigrants” (illegal immigrants granted legal status) instead of U.S. citizens.
As the Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein recently reported: “Under Obamacare, businesses with over 50 workers that employ American citizens without offering them qualifying health insurance could be subject to fines of up to $3,000 per worker. But because newly legalized immigrants wouldn’t be eligible for subsidies on the Obamacare exchanges until after they become citizens – at least 13 years under the Senate bill – businesses could avoid such fines by hiring the new immigrants instead.”
On Tuesday, THE WEEKLY STANDARD asked five U.S. senators about this problem, and none of them knew if it was a problem. “We’re trying to solve that right now. I don’t know if that’s been solved,” Senator Max Baucus of Montana (chief author of Obamacare) told THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
The Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Department invites you to participate in the art exhibit entitled
“A Student’s Celebration of Art” during the month of July at the Stable Gallery, 259 N. Maple Avenue.
Watercolors, Chinese Brush Painting, Acrylics, Pastels, Drawing and Sculpture projects are just some of the pieces to be displayed. All students who have attended an art class at The Stable, through the Parks and Recreation Department, are welcome to bring one favorite piece for display, labeled with your name and class before June 25th. Please call 201-670-5560 if further information is needed.
Please invite your family and friends to attend an Artist Reception, scheduled for Thursday, July 25th, between the hours of 4:00 and 6:00p.m. Light refreshments will be served.
Bill making medical marijuana program more accessible to sick kids wins final passage
As the mothers of two chronically sick children cried tears of relief, the Assembly approved a bill today that would remove some of the legal barriers that have prevented kids from benefiting from New Jersey’s medicinal marijuana program.
The 55-13 vote with nine abstentions in the Assembly was the bill’s last stop before going to Gov. Chris Christie, who has reluctantly implemented the medical marijuana law and has said he is “not inclined to allow” children to participate in the program, even though state law allows it. (Livio/Star-Ledger)
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving 10 Year Old Boy Finds Live Ammunition in Ridgewood Street While Walking To School
June 24,2013
Boyd A. Loving
5:31 PM
Ridgewood NJ, A 10 year old boy who lives in the 400 block of Oxford Court in Ridgewood found a round of live ammunition lying in the street while walking to school this morning.
Ridgewood Police Department Patrol Officer Patrick Elwood was dispatched to the boy’s home this afternoon after the child’s mother called police to report that her son had come home from school with the ammunition still in his possession. According to Officer Elwood, the ammunition appears to be a single round of buckshot. Acting on information provided by the youth, Officer Elwood responded to a home located in the 400 block of nearby Bogert Avenue where the ammunition was reportedly found. The home’s owner had moved over the weekend and it is believed the ammunition may have fallen out of a box/carton during the move. The incident remains under investigation.
A Little history on the property that is now known as the Habernickel Family Park
My name is Richard Huffman and I am writing to give a little history on the property that is now known as the Habernickel Family Park. I lived on the farm from 1950 until 1977.
My dad, Arthur C. Huffman, bought it in disrepair from a doctor who had previously bought it years before to become a recuperative home for his sickly child who suffered from breathing problems. The doctor spent a huge amount of money and time planting many of the beautiful trees that now grace the property, hoping that they would help his child,s breathing problems, but, unfortunately, the child died before the project was completed, We named the property Sweetbriar Farms. My dad founded Huffman & Boyle Furniture (later Huffman-Koos) and was a prominent member of the community.
Over the years, the farm was always open to the public. Ice skating on the pond all winter, fishing in the summer, Boy Scout camp outs in the lower fields, and hiking through the woods. The Kuiphers (Habernickel) family bought the farm part of the the property from my dad in the late 1970s and, in 1986, bought the last 2 acres where our house was located after my father had passed away.
I am surprised that the that the town chose to name the park after the prior owners since, at $7.4 million, it was in no way a charitable donation by the Habernickel family. They made a very handsome profit on the sale to the town. A more appropriate name for the park would have been Hillcrest Park.
‘NSA should come clean about domestic spying’: Ray Kelly
By JENNIFER BAIN
Last Updated: 6:18 PM, June 17, 2013
Posted: 4:09 PM, June 17, 2013
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly launched a stinging rebuke to the federal government’s secret phone and Internet monitoring campaign — and suggested leaker Edward Snowden was right about privacy “abuse.”
“I don’t think it ever should have been made secret,” Kelly said today, breaking ranks with US law-enforcement officials.
His blast came days after the Obama administration and Attorney General Eric Holder outraged New York officials by endorsing a federal monitor for the NYPD.
Kelly appeared to firmly reject Holder’s claim that disclosure of the monitoring campaign seriously damaged efforts to fight terrorism.
‘Smoking’ Alcohol: Is It Safe?
June 14, 2013 6:11 PM
DETROIT (WWJ) – It’s a different way to get drunk. The practice of “smoking” alcohol is gaining popularity — and a local poison expert says it’s dangerous.
The idea is to use very high-proof alcohol, heat it up, and breath in the vapors through a straw. Multiple videos on YouTube show young people giving it a try.
Susan Smolinske, Director of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Regional Poison Control Center, says it creates an instant and euphoric high, but users are likely to take in more than their bodies can handle.
57% Fear Government Will Use NSA Data to Harass Political Opponents
Friday, June 14, 2013
There is little public support for the sweeping and unaccountable nature of the National Security Agency surveillance program along with concerns about how the data will be used.
Fifty-seven percent (57%) of voters nationwide believe it is likely the NSA data will be used by other government agencies to harass political opponents. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 30% consider it unlikely and 14% are not sure.
A new group which will meet beginning this Thursday, June 13, 7pm-8:30pm, through Thursday, August 8, 7pm-8:30pm at 4 Wilsey Square, Suite 2 Ridgewood, NJ 07450
The purpose is so participants increase awareness of their expectations from
their marriage, contributing factors to these expectation, and to increase
their trust of evaluating these expectations.
It is not a pre-divorce or divorce group. It is a group so that people can become more familiar and at ease with the factors on which their marriage is grounded.
The title is because often people feel lonely in their marriage and have little certainty as to the reason.
This group will activate inner resources so that clarity and confidence of
“why” and “what” of marital satisfaction, becomes likely.
ACLU sues over NSA phone records program
Tuesday, June 11, 2013 Last updated: Tuesday June 11, 2013, 6:02 PM
BY ELLEN NAKASHIMA AND SCOTT WILSON
THE WASHINGTON POST NEW SERVICE
The Record
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the constitutionality of the U.S. government’s surveillance program that collects from U.S. phone companies the call records of tens of millions of Americans.
It is the first substantive lawsuit following reports in The Washington Post and the Guardian last week detailing two sweeping surveillance programs run by the National Security Agency under laws authorized by Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The ACLU suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, challenges the legality of the spy agency’s collection of customer “metadata,” including the phone numbers dialed and the length of calls. The lawsuit is asking the court to force the government to end the program and purge any records it has collected.
Access to lifesaving device a concern for some towns
Tuesday June 11, 2013, 10:50 PM
BY DEENA YELLIN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
A kid on a recreation field is hit by a ball and his heart stops. A jogger suddenly drops from an apparent heart attack.
As critical moments tick away before police arrive, onlookers try to help. And increasingly on North Jersey’s playing fields, they can assume there’s an automated defibrillator somewhere nearby to use.
But where is it? Is it under lock and key?
And who’s allowed to use it?
Answering those questions is a concern facing almost every community, as defibrillators are rapidly being acquired for public places, including athletic fields. The problem: The lifesaving devices cost anywhere from $850 to $3,000, and if they’re openly accessible, they could be stolen or vandalized. Using them could also put a life-and-death crisis, literally, in the public’s hands.
And yet, if they’re not available, a life could be lost
Letter: Planning Board meetings on Valley are on a ‘slippery slope’
Friday June 7, 2013, 11:25 AM
The Ridgewood News
Planning Board meetings on Valley are on a ‘slippery slope’
To the editor:
I am a 26-year Ridgewood resident and a regular attendee at Planning Board meetings addressing Valley Hospital’s persistent and increasingly aggressive expansion plans. I have lost track of the many concessions that have been made to Valley Hospital over the past 26 years.
This current proposal is the most grandiose of all. If Valley’s plans are approved, the hospital’s above-ground facilities will more than double in size to almost one million square feet. Phase One construction alone will last for six years. Ridgewood will gain a skyline with the tallest structure climbing 94 feet into the sky with parts of that building only 40 feet from the property line of Ben Franklin Middle School. Children currently in elementary school will face potential construction-related noise, traffic and air quality issues as they attend Ben Franklin. Children not yet born will face the same issues as they attend Travell School.
I started this letter while attending Planning Board meetings exploring traffic, construction, environmental and other issues. I wonder why we are getting into so many details without addressing the basic question of whether this project makes sense for the village – and yes the question is whether it makes sense for the village, not whether it makes sense for Valley Hospital.
I ask if it is relevant at this point in the proceedings if truckloads rumbling through the village’s streets can be reduced to 8,000? Is it relevant if Bergen County will widen Linwood and Van Dien avenues to address traffic worries? Is it relevant if a proposed traffic crossing island is truly safe for our children? Is it relevant if excavation and related water table disruption present undue risk to residential homes and to Ben Franklin? If the construction project is approved, these details will undoubtedly be vetted as specific building site plans are filed.
I am dismayed by the slippery slope of Planning Board meetings that are debating these details. These discussions imply, in my opinion, that the goal is to try to determine a tolerable scope for the project.
2013 Village of Ridgewood Budget Newsletter – June 12 Public Budget Hearing
2013 Budget Newsletter Click Here https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/2013BudgetNewsletter.pdf
The Village 2013 tax levy of $33,040,375 is $36,725 less than Village 2012 tax levy of $33,077,101. The average residential property assessed at $686,994 in 2013 will experience a municipal tax bill of $3,966. This municipal tax for the average taxpayer represents NO increase over the 2012 year.
The introduced 2013 Budget totals $45,343,651. This is a budget decrease of $677,509 from amended 2012 budget (a 1.4% decrease).
The exact tax rate and average tax paid will be determined by the Bergen County Tax Board after the Village Council adopts the Budget. The 2013 Budget Public Hearing will be held at 8PM June 12, 2013.
Click Here for Budget document.https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/2013Budget.pdf
