As 2010 comes to an end, it is common for many people to think about matters of life, health, and overall well being. The following information, courtesy of by David Maris at CLSA, reports the results of CLSA’s holiday health care survey of 100 doctors.  Some of the findings included:

Should Santa should lose weight? 60% of doctors think Santa should lose 50 pounds or more, while 34% think he needs to lose 75 pounds or more.

Based on the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” who is the healthiest? 60% of physicians believe that the ladies dancing are the healthiest, with the Lords-a-Leaping No.2.

A recent study explores the medicinal role 3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or ecstasy) may have in helping individuals unable to socially connect with others.

MDMA is an entactogenic drug (it produces distinctive emotional and social effects) of the phenethylamine andamphetamine class (a natural monoamine alkaloid, trace amine, and psychoactive drug with stimulant effects). … Read more →

When Marina Hills Hospital closed in June 1990, hospital officials blamed California’s Medi-Cal system and its failure to pay the bills to nursing homes and hospitals.

Left with no choice, Marina Hills Hospital in Ladera Heights transferred its 25 patients to other hospitals ending months of financial problems, employee complaints, and a census that dropped to only one patient at times. … Read more →

William F. Jarman, the principal founder of the Sarah A. Jarman Memorial Hospital, was born in Kentucky in 1843.  His life long dream, the Sarah A. Jarman Memorial Hospital, accepted its first patient on April 1, 1919. Considered to be state-of-the-art in all safety and artistic characteristics at the time, the Hospital had seen over 1,100 patients by 1921.  The Hospital’s track record in the first two years – only 23 deaths – was truly an accomplishment in its time. … Read more →

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined the link between smoking in the movies and the affect it may have on young people.

The study concluded that youths “heavily exposed” to smoking in the movies are between two to three times more likely to begin smoking than those with limited exposure. … Read more →

A recent article in the Washington Post reflects on global events in 2010. According to global reinsurer Swiss Re:

“Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 – the deadliest year in more than a generation . . . caused $222 billion in economic losses in 2010 – more than Hong Kong’s economy.” … Read more →

In 1901, Pennsylvania’s passed a new law “to Provide for the Selection of a Site and the Erection of a State Hospital for the Treatment of the Insane Under Homeopathic Management, to be Called the Homeopathic State Hospital for the Insane, and Making an Appropriation Therefor.”

With an appropriation of $300,000 (“or as much thereof as may be necessary”), a section in Hanover Township, near Allentown, was chosen for the location of this new hospital (originally named Pennsylvania State Homeopathic Asylum), spanning over 209 acres.  Finally completed in 1912 after many delays, Allentown State Hospital was located between Allentown and Bethlehem, right along the Allentown and Bethlehem Electric Line. … Read more →

Hospital accreditation, certification and periodic review come from a variety of both public and private sources, though the goal is generally consistent: develop uniform standards to ensure that hospitals in the United States all operate at an acceptable safety level and deliver quality patient care in an appropriate and effective manner.

Hospitals are subject to the Medicare Conditions of Participation set forth by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Before 2008, only the Joint Commission and Health Facilities Accreditation Program (HFAP) were approved by CMS to accredit hospitals as meeting the Medicare Conditions of Participation. … Read more →

The leading source of health insurance coverage nation-wide is employer-based. In California, the California Health Care Foundation recently published its 2010 Employer Health Benefits Survey, identifying changes in these benefits, such as types and employee cost sharing options, as well as the implications resulting therefrom.

• Since 2002, premiums have increased 134.4%.
• The proportion of employers offering coverage is similar to last year, although California lost nearly 210,000 jobs from July 2009 to July 2010.
• Single-coverage premiums in California were $5,463 annually, compared to the national average of $5,049.
• California workers contributed $725 annually for single coverage in 2010, and $3,632 for family coverage.
• Enrollment in plans with a deductible of $1,000 or more for single coverage in 2010 was 27%, up from 7% in 2006.
• Twenty-eight percent of California firms either reduced benefits or increased cost sharing for employees in 2010, compared to 15% in 2009.

View the full report Here. [audio:http://hospitalstay.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Happy-Together-The-Turtles-Cover-1.mp3|titles=Happy Together (The Turtles Cover) 1]

Bethesda Oak Hospital, founded by the Methodist-affiliated Deaconess Association, opened in 1898. Seven German Methodist deaconesses-women who had chosen the religious life and service to Methodist institutions staffed the facility in its early days. It closed 102 years later in 2000. … Read more →