Lancaster City Zoners Grant Variances For Lancaster General Hospital $60M Expansion

Lancaster General Health has received variances from city regulations that will enable its planned $60 million expansion of Lancaster General Hospital to move ahead.

With little discussion and no public opposition, the Lancaster Zoning Hearing Board on Monday approved variances to building height and setback requirements.

The county’s largest health care provider wants to expand the Stauffer building on the northeast corner of the hospital at Lime and Frederick streets to eight floors, putting in 66 private rooms.

Joseph Puskar, an LGH senior vice president, said the hospital is responding to changes in the health care industry.

Read more:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lancaster-city-zoners-grant-variances-for-lancaster-general-hospital-m/article_3e74556c-fdb1-11e4-bf1e-8f1af7ea2f8c.html

$60 Million Expansion Planned For Lancaster General Hospital

Lancaster County’s largest health care provider announced this morning that it is planning a six-story, $60 million expansion of its flagship facility, Lancaster General Hospital.

The expansion would enable the hospital to provide all private patient rooms, Lancaster General health said in a news release.

The LG Health Board of Trustees is scheduled to make a final decision on the project at its May meeting, according to the release. Work completed thus far is in anticipation of trustee and municipal approvals, it said, “to enable construction to begin as early as this summer.”

“Among LGH’s current 533 inpatient beds, 142 are located in semi-private rooms,” the release said. “LG Health plans to expand onto the northeast corner of the hospital, near Lime and Frederick streets.”

Read more:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/million-expansion-planned-for-lancaster-general-hospital/article_d4bc21b8-f00e-11e4-ad3b-239f83f71d33.html

Lancaster General Health Looking At Joining U. Penn Health System

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lancaster General Health, the organization that serves about three-fourths of Lancaster County’s health care market, is looking at becoming part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

LG Health and the Penn system, UPHS, have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore “a consolidated relationship,” the two organizations said Tuesday.

If those explorations bear fruit, LG Health would combine with UPHS, becoming a member organization, LG Health CEO Tom Beeman told LNP.

He called Penn a “world-class strategic partner” that shares LG Health’s values and has complementary strengths.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lancaster-general-health-looking-at-joining-u-penn-health-system/article_cf339d20-5ecd-11e4-bd68-0017a43b2370.html

DCED Awards $938,000 For More Northwest Gateway Cleanup

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The state on Tuesday awarded a $938,000 grant for further cleanup of the Northwest Gateway site at the northern edge of Lancaster city.

The Department of Community & Economic Development’s Industrial Sites Reuse Program funds went to EDC Finance Corp.

EDC Finance will put the money toward assessing and remediating about 27 acres, formerly home to the Dillerville Rail Yard.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/business/local_business/dced-awards-for-more-northwest-gateway-cleanup/article_257a742c-5958-11e4-b1df-001a4bcf6878.html

Lancaster General Hospital Surplus Soars After Several Years Of Decline

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After five straight years of shrinking “profits,” Lancaster County’s biggest nonprofit hospital turned things around last year — due in large part to cost cutting.

Lancaster General Hospital’s surplus, or revenues over expenses, ballooned to $92.6 million in 2012-2013, up 54 percent from the previous year and the highest total since 2007-2008, according to the hospital’s IRS Form 990, released earlier this summer.

The hospital’s parent firm, Lancaster General Health, inched closer to becoming a billion-dollar organization in 2012-2013, with total revenues of $919.8 million and a surplus of $100.7 million.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lgh-surplus-soars-after-several-years-of-decline/article_2a806084-2f92-11e4-8770-001a4bcf6878.html

Lancaster General Hospital Makes Becker’s List Of 100 Great Hospitals In U.S.

Becker’s Hospital Review is pleased to announce its 2014 list of “100 Great Hospitals in America.” Each of following institutions has a rich history, strong credentials and a growing focus on how to best care for patients in an era of reform. These organizations have played home to some of the greatest medical advancements in U.S. healthcare history, and they are also the bastions of their respective communities — serving the roles of academic hubs or local mainstays.

To develop this list, the Becker’s Hospital Review editorial team conducted research, considered nominations and evaluated reputable hospital ranking sources, such as U.S. News & World Report, Truven Health Analytics’ 100 TopHospitals, Healthgrades, Magnet designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, The LeapFrog Group, and several other resources.

Click here to see the list in alphabetical order: http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/100-great-hospitals-2014/full-list.html

Reading Hospital Joins Alliance With Six Others

The Reading Health System announced Wednesday that it has joined an alliance with six other health systems in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, a move officials say could lead to better and more affordable care for patients, improve hospital operations and reduce costs.

The alliance, AllSpire Health Partners, is not a merger, officials stressed.  Reading Hospital will remain locally governed and managed.

The seven health systems include a total of 25 hospitals with a service area of more than 6 million people.  The systems have a combined revenue of $10.5 billion, and AllSpire touts the partnership as the largest health care consortium in the country.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=512676

Lancaster City Wants To Be A Haven For Bicyclists

Bicyclists are being welcomed onto Red Rose Transit buses, businesses are opening their doors to bikes or designating parking areas for them, and city officials are considering ways to improve bicycle transportation.

During May, national bike month, efforts are being made around Lancaster city to enhance cycling safety and promote cycling as a form of transportation.

For example, during National Bike to Work Week, May 13-17, RRTA is offering free rides to bicyclists.  They can mount their bikes on the racks on the front of the buses and ride in and out of the city without charge during the work week.

Each rack holds two bikes, RRTA marketing manager Jennifer Boley said.  Additional bikes may be carried in the aisle.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/847168_Lancaster-city-wants-to-be-a-haven-for-bicyclists.html#ixzz2Sl7ekt41

Lancaster General’s $50 Million Project At Former Lancaster Family YMCA Site Moves Forward

After receiving approvals more than a year ago to build a new office building and a parking garage on the former Lancaster Family YMCA site, Lancaster General Health put the brakes on the project.

Now it’s full speed ahead.

Andrew Baldo, vice president of project developer Arcadia Properties, on Wednesday sought and received from the city Planning Commission a waiver of preliminary plan approval requirements.

The waiver allows the $50 million project to skip a step and moves it closer to having all approvals in place by late June.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/839506_Lancaster-General-s–50-million-project-at-former-Lancaster-Family-YMCA-site-moves-forward.html#ixzz2QqkIejI3

Lancaster General Health Compensation: Plenty, But Not Out Of Line

For the guy who just opened a $300 bill from Lancaster General Health for five minutes worth of blood work, the six- and seven-figure compensation for top LGH officials may be enough to get that blood boiling.

But LGH’s compensation appears to be in line with industry standards.  In fact, you might make a case that Lancaster General President and CEO Tom Beeman is underpaid.

To put LGH compensation in context, Lancaster Newspapers compared it with compensation at five regional hospitals or health systems about the same size as Lancaster General: Wellspan Health, in York County; Pinnacle Health, in Dauphin County; Reading Health, in Berks County; Lehigh Valley Health, in Lehigh County; and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, also in Dauphin County.

The figures show that Beeman got less than the top executives at four of the five comparable institutions.

In 2010, Beeman made $1.35 million in total compensation.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/791279_LGH-compensation–Plenty–but-not-out-of-line.html#ixzz2EfKsV6QH