Special Report

Modular builder taps new markets

Stratford starts to take on more commercial projects than single-family homes

July 18, 2013

Stratford Building Corp., of Rathdrum, which operates a 55,000-square-foot factory complex, expects 2013 to be a banner sales year after having gained footholds in new construction-market sectors during the recession, says John Davis, the company's

Medical office upswing

Builders say health-care providers here appear to be more confident

July 18, 2013

Treva Lind

Spokane-based contractors say they've seen requests to build new medical and dental office spaces increase significantly in recent months, including about a dozen projects in the works and others entering the design phase.Combined, the projects

Brain-preserving method not being used often in hospitals

Therapeutic hypothermia shown to improve survival in cardiac arrest sufferers

July 3, 2013

News Wise

The brain-preserving cooling treatment known as therapeutic hypothermia is rarely being used in patients who suffer cardiac arrest while in the hospital, despite its proven potential to improve survival and neurological function, researchers from a

More contact said to result in fewer hospital re-entries

Care transition program involves interactions both before, after discharges

July 3, 2013

News Wise

Personal contact with patients before and after their hospital discharge resulted in significantly lower readmission rates, says a study conducted by the Bronx Collaborative, a group of hospitals and health insurers in Bronx, N.Y.The results in

Frontier Institute takes on abnormal movement study

Mental health nonprofit's research arm tests remedy to serious drug side effect

July 3, 2013

Linn Parish

Frontier Institute, the Spokane-based nonprofit research arm of Frontier Behavioral Health, formerly Spokane Mental Health, is participating in an early phase of research on an experimental drug intended to treat a serious side effect of Hampton, a

Outpatient care limited in ability to lower costs, data show

For big-bill patients, just 10 percent of acute care expenses found avoidable

July 3, 2013

News Wise

In an analysis that included a sample of patients in the top portion of Medicare spending, only a small percentage of patients' costs appeared to be related to preventable emergency department visits and hospitalizations, limiting the ability to in

Extended pediatric office hours said to trim ER visits

Around-the-clock phone advice, other options curb hospital trips, study says

July 3, 2013

News Wise

Children had half as many emergency department visits if their primary care office had evening office hours on five or more days a week, says new research from child health experts at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, in a

Health sciences group works to boost recruiting, grants

HSSA, GSI joint outreach to draw biomedical firms part of economic stimulus

July 3, 2013

Treva Lind

Representatives of three Pacific Northwest biomedical companies toured Spokane this spring to consider relocating operations here, under a joint recruitment effort by the Health Sciences & Services Authority of Spokane County and Greater Spokane is

Air pollution might speed artery hardening, research finds

Data suggest long-term exposure causes carotid layers to thicken faster

July 3, 2013

News Wise

Long-term exposure to air pollution may be linked to heart attacks and strokes by speeding up atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, according to a University of Michigan public health researcher and colleagues from across the U.S. Sara

Too few primary care doctors being trained, study says

Less than 25 percent of all new physicians enter in-demand field

July 3, 2013

News Wise

Despite a critical shortage of primary care in the United States, less than 25 percent of newly minted doctors go into this field and only a small fraction, 4.8 percent, set up shop in rural areas, says a study by researchers at the George School a