The Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron is leading a national push to make the United States more competitive globally in the medical device industry.BioInnovation Institute President and Chief Executive Dr. Frank L. Douglas joined with other industry leaders on Thursday to unveil proposals to reduce the complexity of getting new [...]

The owner of Mercy Medical Center in Canton wants to help some of the estimated 4,000 independent Northeast Ohio doctors manage their practices without becoming hospital employees.The Sisters of Charity Health System recently launched Independent Physician Solutions (IPS), a for-profit subsidiary that offers electronic medical record adoption and other consulting services.The new venture will provide [...]

Northeast Ohio’s newest full-service hospital will begin treating patients early next year. University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center is the $298 million facility located at Chagrin Highlands in Beachwood that will host a community open house from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 14.

Akron Children’s Hospital is finalizing a deal to own and operate the special-care nursery at Summa Health System’s Akron City Hospital.The boards from the two hospitals are expected to approve the deal in separate meetings Thursday. Once approved, Akron Children’s will take over the 21-bed unit for premature and critically [...]

The doctor will see you now … in your home.In last week’s edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Stephen Landers, director of Cleveland Clinic Care at Home, discussed the growth and benefits of physician home visits, better known as house calls.Cleveland Clinic Care at Home makes about 250,000 [...]

Summa Physicians Inc. has named a longtime leader from the region’s medical school to serve in the newly created position of chief medical officer. Dr. Jay Williamson, 63, will assume the position in Summa Health System’s physician practice Dec. 1. He previously served as the interim dean of the College of Medicine at the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM) in Rootstown, Ohio.

This month, Tom DeBord took over as president of Summa Barberton Hospital and its sister facility, Summa Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital. DeBord, 47, rose through the ranks at Barberton, starting in 1988 as director of general accounting and moving into a variety of administrative roles.

Five Cleveland-area cardiologists from North Ohio Heart Center recently agreed to join Akron General Partners Physician Group. The heart doctors now practice primarily in southwest Cuyahoga County and Medina and Lorain counties. On Nov. 22, Drs. Ismail Ahmed, Donald Cho, Atul Hulyalkar, Fernando Mundoz and Qarab Syed will be under a lease agreement to provide general and diagnostic cardiac services for Akron General.

The maternity unit at Akron General Medical Center is undergoing a rebirth. The hospital recently opened a postpartum floor in an area that used to serve as a short-term observation unit. For hospitals, labor days are big business.

They’re not complete cures, but supporters say the initial changes being rolled out this week as part of national health reform could offer help for some consumers. Critics, however, warn the mandates could drive up the cost of health coverage, beginning with this year’s renewals.