Inland Northwest hospitals have begun battling runaway malpractice insurance premiums by self-insuring, pooling their resources, and even outsourcing the operation of risk-laden departments. Sacred Heart Medical Center here, for example, and a

Sizzling new cell-phone games, burning-fast video transmissions, and hotly sought-after messaging services have touched off an explosion in global cell-phone manufacturing, giving Agilent Technologies Inc.s Liberty Lake research-and-development a

A new initiative to recruit businesses to Eastern Washington and North Idaho has hired former Jobs Plus Inc. President Bob Potter to generate leads. The initiative is aimed at creating recognition for what it calls the Great Inland and it be

A diploma isnt the only important document that some students have in hand when they graduate from high school these days. A growing number of students, educators say, are graduating with specific, industry-defined skills certifications that

Goodrich Corp.s plant on the West Plains here is a one-man operationat least when it comes to its human-resources department. Ben Duncan, human resources manager at the aerospace-components manufacturing company, says he hires, fires, files, he

A large number of U.S. workerssome estimates say 15 percent or morecare for an older relative while holding down a job and juggling other family responsibilities and social activities.That kind of balancing act can leave an employee pretty

Spokanes shortage of low-income housing includes a proportionate dearth of living units for independent-living seniors.Some low-income housing proponents now have their eyes on what could be a larger problem: affordable assisted-living units

Hospitality Manufacturing Inc., a Hayden, Idaho-based maker of furniture for hospitals, hotels, and schools, has broken ground on a bigger manufacturing plant that should help the company post record sales this year, says Darren Miller, its plans a

Hotelier and developer Walt Worthy has been named by the Spokane County commissioners to the board of the Spokane Public Facilities District, the organization that operates the Spokane Convention Center, the Opera House, and the Spokane Veterans a

Taxable sales at retail stores jumped 7.9 percent in Spokane County and 6.4 percent in the city of Spokane in the third quarter of 2003, the most recent quarter for which numbers are available.Sales at retail outlets totaled $889 million in the