Latest news with #AdventistHealth
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Attorney general targets 2 Florida hospitals over lack of price transparency
Attorney General James Uthmeier issued subpoenas Friday to Florida-based hospitals to ensure they comply with price transparency laws. 'Patients are still consumers, and they deserve transparency,' Uthmeier said in a video posted on X. 'The big healthcare industry complex continues to rake in billions off Americans in their most vulnerable moments. We must protect patients.' Uthmeier said under Florida law, a hospital's failure to provide price disclosure may constitute an unfair and deceptive trade practice. He said his subpoenas are related to patient charges, disclosures, billing practice, price transparency and surprise billing protections. The attorney general said his investigation is in line with President Donald Trump's price transparency executive order. Patient advocacy groups in Florida have been pushing for more price transparency. 'Hospitals have hidden their prices yet have forced patients to sign a blank check before they can get care,' said Cynthia A. Fisher, founder and chairman of a nonprofit focused on healthcare price transparency. 'As long as prices have been hidden, hospitals have been able to charge whatever they want. The attorney general's action aims to protect patients by providing actual, upfront prices. This investigation will protect Floridians from hospitals' predatory practices, prevent overcharges, and make bills accountable.' Uthmeier's subpoenas were delivered to Southern Baptist Hospital of Florida in Jacksonville and Adventist Health (Advent Health) in Central Florida, according to the advocacy group. released its seventh semi-annual Hospital Price Transparency Report in fall 2024, which examined 2,000 hospitals' compliance with the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule. The November 2024 report indicates that only 29% of hospitals in Florida were fully compliant with the federal price transparency rule, a drop from 41% in February 2024. Only 39 of 135 Florida hospitals reviewed were fully complying with the rule. 'By keeping their prices hidden, hospitals continue to block American consumers from their right to compare prices and protect themselves from overcharges,' Fisher said. 'During a patient's most vulnerable hour, all too often, hospitals require them to sign contracts accepting full financial responsibility without acknowledging any prices. Florida law clearly states that unfair and deceptive acts and practices are 'unlawful,' which include omitting material information like prices. Yet, that is exactly what Florida hospitals have been doing.' Florida Health Price Finder is a state-operated website developed by the Agency for Health Care Administration to show prices of common services. South Florida Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@
CBS News
20-05-2025
- CBS News
1 dead, 2 injured in shooting at Northern California illegal cannabis grow
Authorities on the Northern California coast said one person has died and two others were wounded in a shooting tied to an illegal cannabis grow last week. According to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, the unidentified man was killed in a shooting near the community of Covelo, about 180 miles north of San Francisco. Around 9 p.m. on May 14, deputies were dispatched to an area north of town following a disconnected 911 call. Deputies said an unidentified male caller told dispatchers he needed help for a friend before the call disconnected. A dispatcher was able to trace the approximate location of the call to the 82000 block of Mina Road near Covelo. While deputies responded to the 911 call, another deputy responded to Adventist Health hospital in Ukiah after a man with possible gunshot wounds arrived in the emergency room. During a search for the 911 caller on Mina Road, deputies were approached by a group of people who reported that an unresponsive male was found a mile away on Hulls Valley Road. The deputies found the victim next to two vehicles and was pronounced dead from apparent gunshot wounds at 12:42 a.m. on May 15. Multiple firearms were found near the victim, along with expended cartridge casings. Deputies said they followed a trail of blood for about ¼ mile and found what was described as a "large marijuana grow" with hoop houses and several trailers. At the hospital, deputies were able to interview the man being treated for gunshot wounds and determined both incidents were related. He was then transported to a hospital outside Mendocino County for further treatment. Detectives obtained a search warrant for the cannabis grow and the shooting scene. Around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, deputies located a third male on Hulls Valley Road who had also suffered apparent gunshot wounds. The man was airlifted to another hospital outside the county for treatment. The man told deputies he was also wounded in the same shooting incident. Both victims are in stable condition, according to the sheriff's office. In a statement Monday, the deputies said they are trying to positively identify the deceased victim and that an autopsy has been scheduled. Deputies said they found evidence of illegal cannabis cultivation under the control of a drug trafficking organization, but did not provide additional information about the group, citing the ongoing investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office at 707-463-4086 and to select Option 1. Tips can also be given anonymously by calling 707-234-2100.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Adventist heart surgeon comes from a line of trailblazing African Americans
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — It used to be that heart patients could only get certain services here in Kern County. More complex or advanced surgeries were often encouraged to travel elsewhere. That is not the case at least at Adventist Health Bakersfield anymore. Credit the veteran heart surgeon who came on board in January 2023. Dr. Robert Stewart believes in science – science fiction and science fact. He's a Trekkie – not of the nerdy extreme – but a fan of the iconic television series' ability to foretell aspects of our future. He is a champion of the healing power of our accumulated knowledge – knowledge that has brought new hope to his chosen field, cardiothoracic medicine. Heart surgery. 'I believe in the whole principles of science,' Stewart said during a 20-minute sit-down interview with KGET. 'I believe that you can have a theory, and I believe you can do the research to prove or disprove that theory and then I believe that if you are gonna bring things into our realm, I believe in the clinical trials that you gotta prove, I believe in everything about the science of, not only medicine, but the physical sciences.' Cardiac and thoracic surgeons specialize in treating diseases affecting the chest, lungs, esophagus and heart. Cardiac surgeons like Stewart treat heart problems, including heart disease, heart transplants and heart failure. Robert Stewart, 76, graduated from Rush Medical School in Chicago, spent time in Michigan and eventually landed in Fresno. Two years ago Stewart brought that knowledge from Fresno to Bakersfield's Adventist Health Hospital, becoming the first, and certainly the most accomplished African American cardiothoracic surgeon in the area. '(For) every cardiac surgery program in Fresno, including the congenital program, I've been instrumental,' he said. 'I've worked at all of them. Actually built them all up. Started some of them. So we knew that, (for) what Bakersfield needed, that I was the best person in the group to come here. I found a community that's very receptive. I found an administration that was more than receptive.' Since his arrival Adventist's heart unit has increased the number of life saving heart surgeries from 30 in the year prior to his arrival to 130 – a four fold increase. '(We) started doing more complex cases here than they were doing (in Bakersfield previously) because some of those cases, a lot of those cases, were being referred out (to hospitals in other cities),' Stewart said. 'That's why the volume was so low. So we're doing more complex cases here. We have plans to have the volume for the next couple years, the volume should grow at least 20 to 25 percent per year.' He has also helped introduce newer techniques and procedures that have cut recovery time for heart surgeries from three to six months to three to six weeks. The direct descendant of slaves – and a slave master – Stewart was born in Central Mississippi. For most of his childhood he was too young to know he was poor. His family moved to Chicago during one of the nation's great post-war migrations. '(The issues were) racism and poverty and lack of employment in Mississippi,' he said, 'and there were better opportunities to get on that Illinois Central Railroad and go north.' He comes from an accomplished family. In 1964, his uncle Robert G. Clark Jr. ran for the Mississippi legislature and defeated the white incumbent to become that state's first Black representative since Reconstruction. He endured insults and ostracism before becoming a force in state politics, and he held the seat for 36 years. Clark's son Bryant W. Clark – Robert Stewart's cousin – succeeded his father. Now, in this century, Stewart is the accomplished one, and the Central Valley of California is the beneficiary. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17 News.
CBS News
28-02-2025
- CBS News
Investigation underway after Ukiah man dies following arrest by Mendocino Co. deputies
A 29-year-old man died after being arrested by Mendocino County Sheriff's deputies on Wednesday night. Deputies responded around 7:40 p.m. on Wednesday to a 9-1-1 hang-up call from an apartment complex in the 300 block of Brush Street in Ukiah. The deputies spotted a man flee the area on foot after seeing the deputies. The deputies recognized the man from past interactions and pursued him on foot to no avail, according to the sheriff's department. Video footage from the area where the man had fled was reviewed by deputies, who identified a 29-year-old man from Ukiah who was on probation. The footage showed the man arrived at the apartment complex in a pickup that had been reported stolen from Contra Costa County. The pickup was towed by the sheriff's department for investigation. An arrest warrant for the man was issued for suspicion of possession of a stolen vehicle, resisting arrest and violating probation, according to the sheriff. A few hours later, the Ukiah Police Department received reports of a man yelling near Orr Creek Bridge, just south of Brush Street. Deputies joined Ukiah police and the California Highway Patrol in responding to the reports around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday. Officers found the suspect in Orr Creek. They asked the man to come out of the creek, but he refused, said the sheriff's department. While they were escorting him out of the water, deputies noticed the man was "exhibiting an altered level of consciousness." Deputies carried the man from the creek to an embankment and he went unconscious, officials said. They removed the handcuffs and gave him multiple doses of Narcan, a medicine used to reverse opioid overdose. According to police, the man responded to the medication, but he continued to have a medical emergency. Medical personnel were called to the scene while officers continued lifesaving measures. He was taken to Adventist Health Ukiah Valley's emergency room, but after 30 minutes of lifesaving efforts at the hospital, he was pronounced dead at 11:04 p.m. The incident is currently under investigation by sheriff's office detectives. An autopsy has been scheduled on Monday to determine the cause of death. The man's name is being withheld pending notification of his family. The sheriff's department asks anyone with information about the incident to contact the Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center at (707) 463-4086, option 1. Anonymous tips can be made by calling (707) 234-2100.
