Latest news with #LMH
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
WEC set for another Hypercar rules extension until 2032
The existing Hypercar World Endurance Championship rule book appears set for a further extension that could allow the current generation of cars to race until the end of 2032. Series boss Frederic Lequien has revealed to that a follow up on the two-year extension to the end of 2029 announced last summer is on the table. Advertisement 'The only thing I can say is that we must be realistic,' he said. 'We have something that is working so well, and we will soon be welcoming more manufacturers [Hyundai, Ford and McLaren]. 'To not think about extending the homologation would be a mistake. I am not saying we are going to do it, but we are thinking about it.' Lequien did not mention how long the existing rules might be prolonged for, but it appears that three years is the option being most strongly considered. The Le Mans Hypercar rules came into force in 2021, with the second route into Hypercar, LMDh, opening up for 2023. #51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi #51 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Alessandro Pier Guidi, James Calado, Antonio Giovinazzi Paul Foster Paul Foster Advertisement At that point the initial five-year rules cycle for LMH was prolonged by two years until the end of 2027 to bring it in line with LMDh. The further extension was announced on the eve of last year's Le Mans 24 Hours when WEC rule makers the FIA and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest firmed up plans for the introduction of hydrogen-powered cars in 2028. The vision outlined by the governing bodies called for these cars to be able to compete with the next-generation of conventionally-fuelled Hypercar machinery from 2030. The idea of pushing back the end date for the current rules in both the WEC and the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America has been welcomed by the manufacturers. Advertisement Urs Kuratle, who heads up the LMDh programme at Porsche, said: 'We would be in favour of it: it would be a good thing, good for the manufacturers in both championships. 'It is something we know is being discussed but as a manufacturer we are not yet involved in those discussions, but from our point of view it would make sense.' Urs Kuratle, boss of 963 programme at Porsche Penske Motorsport Urs Kuratle, boss of 963 programme at Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche Penske Motorsport Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Jansonnie echoed Kuratle's viewpoint. 'There are new manufacturers entering the WEC in 2027 and them having only three years of racing to try to create some value from the investment they are making is a bit short, so it would all make a lot of sense,' he said. Advertisement 'The conditions of the extension have not been discussed with us: now we are waiting to see what the ACO and the FIA wants to do officially.' What is not clear is whether there will be attempts to bring the LMH and LMDh rules together during any extension period. But the manufacturers appear unanimous in a belief that there should only be one platform when the next rules cycle comes into force. 'No one likes having two platforms,' said Kuratle. 'If everyone sits around the table, and I can see that happening in the future, and discusses openly for the good of the sport, and says 'let's take this from LMH and that from LMDh', we could make a common ruleset or platform.' #93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Éric Vergne #93 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Paul Di Resta, Mikkel Jensen, Jean-Éric Vergne JEP / Motorsport Images JEP / Motorsport Images Advertisement Jansonnie stressed the importance to Peugeot of being able to develop its own chassis and the hybrid element of the powertrain, an option allowed to its LMH. That is not the case in LMDh where manufacturers develop their machinery around a so-called spine supplied by one of four licensed constructors and have to run an off-the-shelf energy-retrieval system. He affirmed that a move away from a front-axle hybrid drive would not be a sticking point for the French manufacturer. 'If tomorrow the regulations have to change saying we have to do two-wheel-drive, but with the way the LMH regulations are done where you are in control of the complete design of your car, it would be fine for us,' said Jansonnie. Advertisement It is also unclear if the hydrogen class, which would allow both internal combustion and fuel cell cars, will come into force in 2028 as planned. There are no hydrogen regulations as yet and Toyota, which confirmed its interest in running the alternative fuel in the WEC at Le Mans in 2023 by showing its the GR H2 concept, has stressed the difficulties in being ready to race in '28. Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe technical director David Floury said that having a car ready for the current start date would be 'extremely challenging' given the absence of regulations. Read Also: Pascal Wehrlein could join Porsche for Spa 6 Hours ahead of Le Mans debut To read more articles visit our website.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lawsuit: KU Health worker accessed records of 400+ patients, including nude photos
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A class action lawsuit has been filed after attorneys say a physical therapist with the University of Kansas Health System 'unlawfully accessed' files, including 'potentially nude clinical photographs,' of more than 400 patients who had sought care at a separate Kansas hospital. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, naming KU Health, Lawrence Memorial Hospital, and Epic Systems Corporation as the defendants. It highlights two women — identified as 'Jane Doe #1' and 'Jane Doe #2' throughout the suit — who received letters in 2023, notifying them of the breach. A spokesperson for KU Health said Wednesday they are reviewing the claims. Blue Valley schools approve new policy after sex offender attends school dance According to a Kansas City-based law firm that filed the lawsuit, Stueve Siegel Hanson LLP, the breach started in February 2021 and was not discovered until February 2023. The lawsuit claims the KU Health physical therapist used his employee credentials through Epic's portal to look at the records of at least 425 patients of Plastic Surgery Specialists of Lawrence, an affiliate of LMH, despite having no connection to the patients' care. The lawsuit, which does not name the physical therapist in question, says he had no affiliation with the Lawrence hospital nor its clinic and had never provided treatment to any of the patients. It claims that the Epic portal permitted patient data sharing between unrelated health systems. 'The violation of privacy suffered by these patients is nothing short of devastating,' said Stueve Siegel Hanson Attorney Austin Moore said in a statement. 'There's a serious problem in the healthcare industry when an unauthorized employee can access patient records at an unaffiliated medical facility with virtually no oversight. We're pursuing this case to advocate for stronger safeguards around patient data and to hold accountable those who failed to protect it.' According to the lawsuit, KU Health sent a letter in April 2023 to the victims, notifying them of the data breach and admitting that an employee had accessed their information 'outside of their job duties.' KU Health said in the letter that the employee had been terminated; however, according to the law firm, the letter at the time did not specify what 'clinical information' was compromised, 'leaving many patients unaware of the full extent of what occurred.' Plaintiffs 'Doe #1' and 'Doe #2' both indicated in the lawsuit that they received care at LMH between 2021 and 2023, and as part of those procedures, pre-operative and post-operative photos of their nude bodies were gathered and made part of their medical files. New claims from alleged victims of KC tow company under criminal investigation The law firm said its lawsuit asserts negligence claims, invasion of privacy, civil rights violations, and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Stored Communications Act, among other claims made against KU Health, LMH and Epic. The lawsuit requests a jury trial and asks the court to award compensatory and punitive damages to the plaintiffs. In a statement Wednesday, KU Health said: 'The University of Kansas Hospital is one of three parties named in a lawsuit alleging violations of patient privacy. We take this seriously; patient privacy is very important to us. We just received the complaint, and our teams are reviewing it currently.' FOX4 has also reached out to Epic and LMH for comment. Epic has not responded; however, LMH said: 'LMH Health was made aware this morning that it is one of three parties named in a lawsuit alleging violations of patient privacy. While we can't comment on ongoing legal action, we want to reassure our patients and community that we take any suspected violation of patient privacy extremely seriously. This claim is under review by legal counsel, and we will keep the community apprised of any additional facts we can share as they become available.' A court date has not yet been set in the case. Read the full lawsuit here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Boards vote in favor of to begin transition of LMH into Parkview Logansport Hospital
The Logansport Memorial Hospital board, the Cass County Commissioners and Cass County Council voted unanimously in favor of a transfer agreement between LMH and Parkview Health System Monday night during a public hearing at the Cass County 4-H Fairgrounds. With the acceptance of the transfer agreement, LMH now has a goal of transitioning to Parkview Logansport Hospital by June 30. The agreement between LMH and Parkview Health System, which is headquartered in Fort Wayne, allows for all of LMH's assets and liabilities to be transferred to Parkview Logansport Hospital. After the transfer is complete, LMH would cease doing business as a county hospital and terminate and dissolve. All in accordance with Indiana Code 16-22-3-18. Parkview Logansport Hospital would take over the assets and liabilities as well as operation of the hospital. Richard Church, chief growth and strategy officer at Parkview Health, said that Parkview would invest approximately $37 million into the Logansport hospital and the community. He said Parkview would pay back a $3 million loan the county had given LMH as well as other outstanding debt the hospital had accrued. Parkview will invest a minimum of $15 million into new equipment for the hospital and $10 million into converting to the Epic medical record system. The public hearing consisted of two presentations, one by Tara McVay, president and CEO of Logansport Memorial Hospital, and one by Church. After the presentations, audience members had an opportunity to ask questions and express concerns—of which only a limited number of people did—and then the three boards voted to approve the transfer agreement. 'I think it's nice to have a plan,' McVay said after the hearing. 'I've been a long-term employee at the hospital. I've been here just under 28 years. I love the hospital and being a community hospital is important to me but then I had to stop and think about what is important to me. Continuing to have quality care, continuing to have multiple core service lines and continuing to take care of our employees. This is what I care about the hospital and the community.' McVay said they will evaluate the hospital over the next two-and-half months alongside Parkview to determine how the transition will work and what it means for the community. She expected the transition to take from 12 to 24 months to be completed. During her presentation, McVay focused on the difficulties the hospital had encountered over the past few years. 'We've had the quality care,' she said. 'We've provided the service. We continue to keep our service lines open to make sure we are providing that care but we struggled significantly with financial resources to do that.' McVay said the hospital averaged approximately 3.5 million in available cash for operations, which equals about 12 to 16 days. She said that if money stopped coming into the hospital, then they would only be able to pay their bills for 16 days. Throughout 2024, the hospital lost on average nine thousand dollars a day, she said, adding that the loss had improved from the prior two years but was still too much. 'We are a very important part of this community,' she said. 'We employ many people. We are an important economic fabric of this community. We need to have better financial stability.' Because of those financial difficulties, the hospital had not been able to upgrade equipment over the past few years though it did have to make some building improvements over that time. Another contributing factor included Medicaid reimbursements having not increased in 30 years, she said. 'We have been surviving for the last several years,' McVay said. 'Our employees, our community, our health care system in this area deserves to thrive.' McVay ended her presentation buy showing how LMH's and Parkview's values aligned in terms of the supporting rural health care, valuing quality care and operating as nonprofit hospitals. Following McVay's presentation, Church presented on how a partnership with Parkview would benefit the hospital. Church said that Parkview serves a 22 county region that extends into many rural areas. 'This is kind of core to who we are,' he said. 'This is what we believe part of our system's mission is—to be one of the best systems in the country to delivering health care in rural communities.' Church said one of the advantages of being a larger hospital system is being able to overcome disruptions such as COVID or unexpected Medicaid cuts on the state or federal level. He said such an unforeseen turn could cause a hospital like LMH to have to close its doors due to the small amount of cash it has on hand. He said the size of the Parkview Health system would help bring financial stability to the Logansport hospital and assist them in riding out any complicated periods or shake ups. Church said the primary goals of Parkview would be strengthening the Logansport community through new market growth, ensuring continued high quality local access to care, sustaining employment, stabilizing financials and helping the Logansport hospital do more by being more efficient. 'You will still have community representatives from your local community that are on the board at the hospital,' he said. '(Parkview) will have a couple of people that will join and at the health system level we will provide some oversight but you will still have local folks that you can sit down with.' 'Logansport is a fantastic community with an incredible team of caregivers at its hospital,' said Dr. Ray Dusman, Parkview Health President of Physician and Clinical Enterprise, said in a press release Tuesday morning. 'As not-for-profits, our organizations are charged with caring for and reinvesting in our communities, and we are eager to work together to make an impact.'
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Aston Martin Valkyrie Gears Up for Historic Sebring Debut
Read the full story on Modern Car Collector Aston Martin's Valkyrie hypercar is set to make its highly anticipated North American racing debut this weekend at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, ushering the British automaker back into top-tier U.S. endurance competition for the first time in over a decade. The competition-spec Valkyrie, developed in partnership with the Aston Martin THOR team, is the first Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) to race in IMSA's premier GTP category. It also holds the distinction of being the only LMH entry competing in both the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and IMSA, following its global racing debut in Qatar last month. Powered by a race-modified 6.5-liter V12 engine producing 680 horsepower under hypercar regulations, the Valkyrie blends cutting-edge aerodynamics with the aggressive engineering of its road-going counterpart. The hypercar's entry into IMSA competition signals Aston Martin's intent to compete at the highest level of endurance racing. Veteran drivers Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn, both with experience in IMSA GT categories, will pilot the Valkyrie for the full season. They are joined at Sebring by Alex Riberas, a seasoned competitor in endurance racing and a WEC Valkyrie driver. Their collective expertise will be tested on Sebring's notoriously rough, 3.74-mile circuit. Sebring's grueling 12-hour format is expected to push the Valkyrie to its limits as Aston Martin refines its hypercar program. With a striking blue livery and the unmistakable roar of its V12 engine, the Valkyrie is set to captivate racing fans and reinforce Aston Martin's legacy in endurance motorsport. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
V12 Valkyrie Will Catch Eyes, Ears at IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring
The Valkyrie is the first car built to the LMH rules of Hypercar to race in GTP. Entering just its second race following the opening round of the World Endurance Championship in Qatar on Feb. 28. The Aston Martin THOR Team's primary goal is to finish the 12 hours at Sebring. The reputation for making a beautiful noise from its V12 engine precedes the sleek Aston Martin Valkyrie's entry at the Mobile 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. 'The engine sounds absolutely incredible,' said Ross Gunn, one of three former GT drivers stepping into the new prototype for Aston Martin. Driving the very loud and compact car in front of the throng at Sebring, he acknowledged, is likely to turn some heads. The engine's potency has already caught the attention of IMSA officials, who docked the Valkyrie by nearly 15 horsepower in the new Balance of Performance released after testing at the central Florida track. Just by cranking the 6.5-liter V12 and racing in the GTP category of IMSA's WeatherTech Championship, the Aston Martin will be scoring firsts. The Valkyrie is the first car built to the LMH rules of Hypercar to race in GTP and will be a lone normally aspirated wolf among the LMDh prototypes of IMSA. Entering just its second race following the opening round of the World Endurance Championship in Qatar, the Aston Martin THOR Team's primary goal is to finish the 12 hours around the uneven surfaces of Sebring's ancient concrete and asphalt, considered a tougher day-night challenge than most 24-hour events. The stated goal for drivers Gunn, Alex Riberas and Roman De Angelis is to be chasing victories by the end of the season. The development curve will benefit from the car's distinction, said Gunn. 'Having a normally aspirated car racing with the hybrids, there are obviously a few differences in the way that they produce performance and the way that they provide performance. I think the key for us is that having normally aspirated car simplifies things quite a lot. There's less things to change. There's less variables. So, I think from that side, it's definitely easier." Starting two years behind the other LMH cars and IMSA's LMDh entries is a challenge. But the officials at the WEC and in IMSA have indicated they will help keep new entrants competitive with BoP. The reduction of 15 horsepower for the Valkyrie at Sebring might be overkill by officials not familiar enough with the new car's performance. But it could also be seen as part of an across-the-board effort to keep speeds in check for all entrants on the treacherous, high-speed 3.74-mile circuit. IMSA also announced power cuts to prototypes that included a 12-horsepower reduction for the Porsche 963 and eight horsepower for the BMW M Hybrid V8 and Cadillac V-Series.R. 'Obviously in the top class it's going to be a new thing (with the Valkyrie),' said Gunn. Jordan Taylor, who has driven the Acura ARX-06 for Wayne Taylor Racing and currently drives one of the team's Cadillac V-Series.R entries, expects BOP to keep the Valkyrie competitive. 'If you're a half a second faster, you get BoP-ed,' he said. 'If you're a half a second slower, you get BoP-ed. That's just the way it is in sports car racing.' Although the hybrids are expected to get better fuel mileage, Jordan said the Valkyrie may have an advantage under braking against the LMDh entries, which have regenerative systems at the rear wheels. 'Obviously there are advantages you can have with fuel efficiencies and there are advantages setting up the way the braking works for tire temps, the way traction control is intervening with different types of engines.' The Valkyrie will not burst into full song when coming out of its pit stall. Similarly to the hybrids, it launches under power from an electric motor and battery before the clutch is dropped once the car hits 10 mph. Long recognized as an extraordinary prototype, the Valkyrie began life as a road going hybrid that doubled as a track day car. It survived after a divorce between parents Aston Martin and Red Bull Advanced Technologies, where the latter's Adrian Newey designed a hybrid carrying more than 1,100 horsepower. With its eye on Le Mans, Aston Martin initially committed to the Hypercar class and its LMH rules. But when convergence was announced in 2021, the company, under new chairman Lawrence Stroll, decided not to enter the hybrid against the LMDh cars that were incorporated into the entry at Le Mans and the WEC. With its eye still on returning to the high-water mark of the Aston Martin DBR1's victory at Le Mans in 1959, Aston Martin now believes its new, less complicated approach will pay dividends. The AMR-LMH fans will see at Sebring follows the Valkyrie Pro, a normally aspirated track day only version of Newey's original compact aerodynamic layout. The THOR team includes a mixture of experienced personnel from Aston Martin's UK operations, Canadian builder Multimatic and The Heart of Racing, based in Seattle. Jonathan Diuguid, who directs the Porsche Penske Motorsport team, said he was impressed by the THOR team's execution at its first race in Qatar, where one of the two Valkyries finished the race's 10 hours. 'It's tough for me to say where they are in the development program,' said Diuguid. 'It's a testament to the regulations because it's a V12 naturally aspirated car that sounds great and looks quite different. And to have another manufacturer on track competing at the level they're going to compete at is only a benefit for everyone. 'We're looking for a competitive weekend for any engine architecture,' continued Diuguid, 'Whether it's our turbo v8 hybrid or a naturally aspirated V12. I think that's the beauty of sports car racing right now. The regulations permit any kind of powertrain architecture to compete.'
