Special Report

Assisted-living project gets go-ahead in Coeur d'Alene

Lilac Glen plan also could include 20 housing units

September 25, 2014

The Coeur d'Alene City Council has approved land-use requests for an envisioned 70-bed assisted-living facility and 20 other residential units on 13 acres of land near the French Gulch area on the east edge of the city, says architect Dick Stauffer, who

Moran Vista Senior Living adjusts to market

Assisted-living demand steady since recession

September 25, 2014

Mike McLean

Since the Great Recession, Moran Vista Senior Living has balanced a slow return in demand for independent living apartments by licensing more assisted-living units, for which demand has remained steady, says Sandy Davidson, Moran Vista's administrator.

When older adults go back to school

Career change, love of learning top lists of retirees' motivations

September 25, 2014

Judith Spitzer

Dr. Erik Strandness studied and practiced neonatal intensive-care medicine in Spokane for 25 years before retiring at the age of 51, in 2009, to pursue a graduate degree in theology at Whitworth University. After graduating in 2011, he took a position w

$19.2 million expansion at Sacred Heart advances - Art Only

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September 11, 2014

Mike McLean

Providence Holy Family in mediation with union

Nurses' wages said to lag behind Sacred Heart's

September 11, 2014

Judith Spitzer

The Seattle-based Washington State Nurses Association, which represents more than 400 registered nurses at Providence Holy Family Hospital in north Spokane, are in mediation talks with hospital administrators over pay that they contend lags behind that of

Insurance broker aims to simplify Obamacare

Welk writes book, creates website to aid consumers

September 11, 2014

Kim Crompton

Independent insurance broker Robert S. Welk, who owns Welk Security & Trust on Spokane's North Side, isn't interested in offering his personal views on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as the Affordable Care Act or O

Sacred Heart adds recently approved surgical robot

Newer technology can be used on more procedures

September 11, 2014

Linn Parish

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital has bought and installed the newest generation of the DaVinci robotic surgery device, a machine that' it expects will enable it to perform surgeries it hadn't been able to do robotically.

New employer-owned health care plan launches here

Alternative offering stresses primary care, overall health

September 11, 2014

Katie Ross

Spokane-based Rockwood Health System has partnered with Cary, N.C.-based health care technology company Physician Care Direct to offer its Employer Health Ownership Plan (EHOP) here as an alternative to traditional third-party health insurance plans.

Health plans in state rise dramatically in second year

Board approves 82 options, up from 46 in first enrollment

September 11, 2014

Staff Report

The Washington Health Benefit Exchange board of directors last month provided final certification of Qualified Health Plans to be offered through Washington Healthplanfinder during the second open enrollment period.

Inland Northwest Blood Center looks to solve drop in demand

Hospitals are buying less blood as cost-savings measure, center CEO says

September 11, 2014

Virginia Thomas

Spokane-based nonprofit Inland Northwest Blood Center is endeavoring to maintain revenue while hospital demand for blood is decreasing and donations of blood are declining. INBC President and CEO Jeff Bryant says that as hospitals look to cut costs, buy