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CBS News
5 days ago
- Health
- CBS News
Colorado health campuses in Aurora convert portion of hotel into alternative care facility
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation saw just how quickly our medical infrastructure can become overrun. Hospitals had to create treatment centers in tents and convention centers. So, now, federal money is helping two major health campuses in Colorado provide additional care in their own backyard. Thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, CU Anschutz Medical Campus and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital campuses in Aurora now have figured out a way to convert existing infrastructure into additional hospital beds. In a matter of weeks, the health leaders converted part of the Hyatt hotel across the street from them into an alternative care facility. The area has two fully-functional intensive care units, a nursing station, imaging and laboratory services. "We're treating this like tower four as an extension to the hospital itself," said Dr. Jason Persoff, UCHealth Physician and associate professor at the CU School of Medicine. "Here, we can do any form of basic radiographs." This is the second phase of a three-year project that is attempting to figure out how communities can quickly set up advanced medical facilities in existing infrastructure during a medical disaster. Traditionally, hospitals had to create treatment centers in tents or other temporary structures like during the pandemic "But they have several disadvantages, which include thermal regulation so they can get too hot or too cold," Persoff said. "They're also patient comfort issues. There's privacy issues. There's the inability to turn off the lights completely. There's issues with infection prevention." The hotel will be restored to normal in a couple of weeks. There is a plan to test this in other cities across the country. Persoff told CBS Colorado the hotel model offers several advantages, including improved infection control, private bathrooms and the ability to isolate patients. Presoff also says this was a tremendous feat involving hundreds of people, but they now have a guidebook on how hospitals can do this same thing quickly during a medical disaster, which has people across the nation excited. "One of the coolest things we've been able to produce so far is an actual playbook on this is how you do this in your city," Persoff said.
Business Journals
11-07-2025
- Business
- Business Journals
X CEO Linda Yaccarino departs; UCSF Health stays with Blue Shield
Happy Wednesday, Bay Area. At the top of the tech world this morning is news that X CEO Linda Yaccarino said she is stepping down from the company after two years at the helm, according to a Wednesday post on what was once called Twitter that said "the best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with @xai." Billionaire owner Elon Musk's announcement in March that his xAI had acquired X at a valuation of $33 billion brought into question Yaccarino's future at the company, Bloomberg reports. Musk's SpaceX plans to raise new funding and launch an employee tender by selling insider shares at a $400 billion valuation, Bloomberg reports, as the company sees its fortunes rise on the back on its fast-growing Starlink satellite internet unit. In return-to-office news, national office foot traffic increased 8.3% year-over-year in June, according to data in the Office Index from last month. Overall, though, nationwide office visits were still down 27.4% compared to June 2019. And we end in Union Square, where a new location of popular Chinese toy store Pop Mart is coming, the SF Standard reports. The shop is set to open at 200 Powell St. in a green Art Deco building at the corner of O'Farrell later this year. And now on to the day's top headlines here in the city and across the Bay Area. GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY Find Local Events Near You Connect with a community of local professionals. Explore All Events Blue Shield and UCSF Health reach new agreement Blue Shield of California and UC Health announced on Tuesday they have reached a new agreement whereby UC Health will extend contracts pending the completion of formal contract renewal process. The move means that Blue Shield members can continue to access UC Health providers and UC Health providers will accept Blue Shield members as in-network. Blue Shield of California and UC Health had been in ongoing contract negotiations with a potential agreement expiration date of Aug. 9, which could have pushed UCSF Health out of network for Blue Shield members. UCSF renews big Mission Bay lease UCSF has secured a 147,000-square-foot lease renewal in Mission Bay's Alexandria Center at 499 Illinois St., the Registry reports. The transaction ranks among the quarter's most significant leases, according to a second-quarter 2025 market report by Newmark, alongside new deals from Coinbase's 150,671 square feet of space and LinkedIn's separate renewal of 150,000 square feet. Tri Counties Bank plans West Portal branch with familiar faces Tri Counties Bank is opening a new branch in San Francisco's West Portal neighborhood this summer. The branch is the former site of a First Republic Bank branch and will be led by former First Republic Bank employees. 'Our focus is to provide West Portal with a superior banking experience through personalized service and a full range of strategic financial solutions," Scott Robertson, senior vice president and head of community banking at Tri Counties Bank, said in a statement. Instead of traditional teller lines, the West Portal branch will feature five "relationship desks" where customers can sit down with a banker. Cruise lays off 100 workers San Francisco-based robotaxi company Cruise has announced 101 layoffs in the Bay Area, according to state WARN filings, as part of a broader restructuring to scale back its General Motors-backed operations. The lion's share of the layoffs — 85 of them — come at 1201 Bryant St. in San Francisco. An office at 840 W. California Ave. in Sunnyvale would also be affected. The job cuts are effective immediately. Sign up for the Business Times' free morning and afternoon daily newsletters to receive the latest business news driving change in San Francisco. Download the free San Francisco Business Times app for breaking news alerts on your phone. M&A Watch Meta (Nasdaq: META) is taking a 3% stake in Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica for $3.5 billion in an effort to develop AI-powered smart glasses, Bloomberg reports. The market for smart glasses is expected to grow to $8.26 billion by 2030 from $1.93 billion in 2024, according to GrandView Research. People on the Move HTEC, a global digital engineering and product development company based in Palo Alto, has named Tim Sears as chief AI officer. Funding Watch South San Francisco-based Centivax has raised $45 million in Series A funding to advance its universal flu vaccine into human trials within eight months. Investors include Future Ventures, NFX, BOLD Capital, Amplify Partners, Kendall Capital and Base4 Capital. Funds will support clinical trials and enlarging a pipeline of vaccines. S.F.-based edtech Honor Education raised $38 million in Series A funding from Alpha Edison, Wasserstein & Co, Audeo Ventures, Interlock Partners and New Wave Capital. Palo Alto-based Sundial raised $16 million in Series A funding led by GreatPoint Ventures. Final thought … How about those Giants? If you didn't watch the final moment of last night's game against the Phillies, it's worth a look — especially with the help of announcer Dave Flemming's call. Meanwhile at the Business Times, don't forget to mark you calendar for our first Business of Sports event July 15 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the United Club inside Chase Center. DOWNLOAD the free SFBT app for breaking news alerts on your phone.
San Francisco Chronicle
09-07-2025
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
UC Health, Blue Shield of California reach new contract, avoiding disruptions to care
After weeks of contract negotiations that threatened to disrupt medical care for tens of thousands of Californians, UC Health and Blue Shield of California on Tuesday reached a new agreement. The deal means patients who get medical care at UCSF and five other UC Health academic medical centers statewide through Blue Shield can continue accessing services at in-network rates. This had been up in the air, with the previous contract slated to expire Aug. 9. If the two sides had not reached an agreement, patients would potentially have had to find a new doctor, new insurer, or pay out-of-network rates. The contract applies to people on CalPERS plans, employer plans, Covered California plans and Medicare plans (including Medicare Advantage) offered or administered by Blue Shield. In the Bay Area, this includes residents insured by Blue Shield who get care at UCSF Medical Center, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, UCSF Medical Group, UCSF Benioff Children's Physicians and the primary care provider One Medical, a UCSF affiliate. UC Health and Blue Shield had been renegotiating contracts to establish how much Blue Shield will reimburse services provided by UC Health hospitals, clinics and other facilities. Such negotiations between providers and insurers are routine, though they have grown more public and contentious in recent years, often with both sides accusing the other of harming patients through higher prices or less accessible care. 'We are dedicated to ensuring members have access to affordable care and are pleased to be able to continue our partnership with UC Health,' Blue Shield of California said in a statement.
Arab Times
05-07-2025
- Health
- Arab Times
How to manage ADHD at work and turn it into a strength
NEW YORK, July 5, (AP): Jeremy Didier had taken her son to a psychologist for a possible ADHD evaluation when she spotted an article about women with the condition. As she read it in the waiting room, she thought to herself: They're describing me. 'Lots of risk-taking, lots of very impulsive behavior growing up,' Didier said. As the magazine described, she'd excelled in school but gotten in trouble for talking too much. She'd amassed too many speeding tickets as an adult. She turned to her husband and said, 'I think I might have ADHD.' Didier is now the board president of Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, a nonprofit advocacy and support organization. Her realization mirrors the experiences of other adults who wonder if they have ADHD after a child's diagnosis. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by inattention, hyperactivity or a combination of the two. Common symptoms such as trouble concentrating or sitting still can create challenges at work. People with ADHD are often passed over for promotions, said Andrew Sylvester, a psychiatrist at UCHealth in Longmont, Colorado. Difficulties with attention may lead the mind to drift during meetings, and cause someone to miss important discussion nuances. The disorder may interfere with organization, planning and remembering details. If you've lost your job, here's how you can take care of yourself and your finances Yet some adults think of having ADHD as a source of personality strengths and ways of thinking that benefit employers. Diagnostic manuals may call it a disorder, but it also can be a superpower, they said. 'Our brains work differently and so we're more likely to be able to think outside the box and come up with different things, and sometimes that's because we've had to do that in order to to survive,' Didier said. Here are some ways to cope with and channel ADHD in the workplace. Finding community Getting diagnosed with ADHD doesn't always lead to a quick fix. While doctors often recommend medication and therapy, not everyone can take medication, and those routes don't necessarily eliminate all symptoms. Didier floundered with a messy house and lots of yelling as she and four of her five children were diagnosed with ADHD. She experimented with medicine, diets and reward charts, and discovered what helped her the most: a community of parents who had children with ADHD. 'There's nothing like talking to other people who are going through what you're going through to help you feel ... that you're not alone,' she said. Didier eventually became a social worker and now runs support groups for adults with ADHD, teaching skills they can use at work. Some organizations have employee resource groups organized around neurodiversity to provide camaraderie and support to adults with ADHD, autism, dyslexia and other conditions. GPS of the brain People with ADHD often struggle with executive function, which Didier describes as 'your brain's GPS' for navigating your day. Executive function is a set of mental skills that includes making plans, managing time and flexible thinking. It also includes working memory, which helps us keep track of what we're doing. To keep from getting derailed, experts recommend breaking large tasks into chunks, writing detailed to-do lists and taking breaks. Personal chef Bill Collins, 66, who was diagnosed with ADHD two years ago, writes structured lists when he's making a meal for a client. He creates categories for kitchen areas — counter, stove and oven — and then lists tasks such as 'chop carrots, boil water for pasta' underneath each category. Then he numbers each task so he knows exactly what to do, where and when. 'That's how I got around my unknown ADHD early on, just making lists,' Collins said. 'If it's something I don't want to do, I put it at the top of the list so I can be done with it.' Another technique is called 'body doubling,' which involves a pair of work colleagues meeting over Zoom or in-person to focus on completing projects. The two may choose to perform separate tasks — one might build a presentation deck while the other files tax reports — but help each other stay accountable. 'You're just sitting there during that dedicated time, getting things done,' Didier said. Insurance company Liberty Mutual provides an AI tool that helps break down large projects into manageable tasks and provides reminders about deadlines, to help employees with ADHD stay focused and organized, said Head of Benefits Verlinda DiMarino. Getting through meetings Meetings can be difficult for people with ADHD if their minds drift or they feel an urge to get up out of a chair. They also may struggle with impulse control and find it hard to wait their turn to speak. Nicole Clark, CEO of the Adult and Pediatric Institute, a mental health practice in Stuart, Florida, suggests asking for meeting topics in advance and writing up talking points. If you think of questions during the meeting, write them down. Some employers use a voice-to-text service, projecting what a speaker is saying on a screen, which helps people with attention difficulties stay focused, Clark said. Sylvester, the psychiatrist, recommends practicing active listening by repeating in your head what someone just said, or taking a brief time-out from a meeting to reset. Tell them, ''I need five minutes. I'll be right back.' Get up and walk out. Do what you need to do,' he said. Mariel Paralitici-Morales, chief medical officer of the Adult and Pediatric Institute, who has ADHD, sits close to whoever will be speaking to help sustain attention. 'Having something in my hand helps,' said Paralitici-Morales, who sometimes holds a fidget spinner. 'If we have to talk, I found it's easier for me to be the first one and break the ice' to keep herself from second-guessing what she planned to say. Seek accommodations People with an ADHD diagnosis can request accommodations at work through the Americans with Disabilities Act. Noise-canceling headphones may help. Consider asking for the ability to take a break every 20 minutes, Sylvester said. 'Set a timer for five to 10 minutes. Get up and walk around. Make some coffee. Go play with the dog,' he said. 'When that timer goes off, go back to a 15 to 20 minute hard productivity cycle.' Employees can also request a flexible schedule or ability to work from home, which can enable time for therapy or self-care. Antoinette Damico, 23, who coordinates events at an executive search firm in San Francisco, said she practices meditation, writes daily goals in a journal and stays off short-form media to improve her concentration. Celebrate your strengths Having ADHD can be an asset in the workplace, and many CEOs and entrepreneurs are neurodiverse, Didier said. 'We bring all kinds of unique talents to our workplaces. Hyper-focus, lots of energy, resilience, the ability to multitask,' she added. 'There's something about people with ADHD that seems to unmask or give us a greater capacity for creativity and innovation.' Damico also thinks her ADHD provides some advantages. When she's interested in a topic, she can be extremely focused, reading extensively and talking about the topic nonstop, a trait others with ADHD report. 'It can generate a real passion in you that is a bit unique,' she said. 'It really creates this grit in me in terms of when I really want to accomplish something, there's this boost of energy.'
News.com.au
03-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Health Check: Promedicus shares smash record $300 barrier on back of mega deals
Defying the sceptics, Promedicus announces $190 million of new US contracts Proteomics wins US reimbursement code for its diabetic kidney disease assay Morgans says Neurizon shares are worth almost triple their current value Shares in tearaway radiology imager ProMedicus (ASX:PME) this morning surged close to 10% after the company announced two new US customer contracts worth a total $190 million. The first win is a $170 million, 10-year contract with UCHealth, for the company's suite of image viewing and storage tools. The deal expands Promedicus into cardiology imaging, one of the adjacent 'ologies' the company has targeted. UCHealth is a Colorado-based network of 14 hospitals, with affiliate clinics extending into Wyoming and Nebraska. The second victory is a previously flagged renewal with the Louisiana-based Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health. This one has a minimum $20 million contract value over five years. The deal renews a contract for the company's Visage 7 viewer, at a higher per-transaction fee. It also provides the merciful missionaries with Visage 7 Open Archive, which offers 'best-in-class interoperability'. Promedicus CEO and co-founder Dr Sam Hupert says the deal shows there's a 'material opportunity' to upgrade Visage 7 to the bells-and-whistles open archive. 'Our pipeline remains strong and spans all market segments,' he chirps. Silencing the naysayers The latest deals should silence the Promedi-sceptics, who fear the $34 billion market cap stock is way overvalued. In March, one fundie suggested the stock was being driven by 'confirmation bias': the notion that what's worked well in the past will continue to do so. See also: Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA). Indeed, Promedicus shares trade on an extravagant price-earnings (PE) multiple of 200 times. This is based on current year earnings estimates. But the PE used to be more like 300 times. Evidently stronger profits – rather than a lower share price – caused the contraction. In February Promedicus shares hit $298 before pulling back by more than 30%. This was amid the US climate of fear enveloping healthcare stocks. Painchek is on a roll – and it doesn't hurt a bit PainChek (ASX:PCK) reports strong uptake of its smartphone-based device for assessing pain when the patients – typically nursing home residents – are unable to do so. The company says contracted annual recurring revenue grew by 10%, $5.4 million. Net contracted licences (to nursing homes) increased 9% to 110,000, with no attrition. Painchek dominates the local aged care market and has a decent share of the UK sector, which is one and a half times as big as Australia's. Painchek has a dominant position in the local aged care market and a decent share of the UK sector, which is one and a half times bigger. The company also has a presence in Canada and has been chatting to the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) about the path to US approval. Painchek also is eyeing the bigger pre-verbal kids' sector. All up, Painchek has contracts with more than 1800 aged care facilities and had carried out more than 12 million digital pain assessments to date. Today's disclosure was a sales update rather than the full June quarter, so it didn't get into the nitty-gritty of cash burn and such. Proteomics wins US reimbursement code If biotechs aren't getting reimbursed in the US they might as well pack their bags and go home – if Customs have let them in to Trumpland in the first place. So, we duly report that Proteomics International Laboratories (ASX:PIQ) has won a Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) reimbursement code, as granted by the American Medical Association. While a CPT code sounds, well, procedural, it's the standard lingua franca for public and private health insurance programs. The CPT code is for Proteomics' predictive blood test for diabetic kidney disease, Promarker D. In the meantime, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will release its pricing for the test in September. Promarker D is a simplified, immunoassay-based diagnostic that predicts accurately kidney function decline in adults with type 2 diabetes. Studies showed Promarker D predicted the disease onset in up to 86% of otherwise healthy diabetics. Is this the breast partnership yet for Bcal? Still on tests, BCAL Diagnostics (ASX:BDX) has struck a commercial partnership deal with Cancer Care Associates (CCA), one of Australia's biggest private oncology networks. CCA will adopt Bcal's Breastest Plus, the company's non-invasive breast cancer diagnostic. 'Initially starting in Sydney, the collaboration is designed to accelerate the clinical uptake and validation with doctors,' the company says. Designed as an adjunct to mammography, Breastest Plus analyses lipids in the blood. It's intended for use for women with dense breast tissue, who are at higher risk of breast cancer than their 'fatty' breasted brethren. Bcal dubs the tie-up as a 'significant commercial milestone, establishing an additional pathway to market adoption and patient access through one of Australia's most prominent oncology networks'. The company expects initial revenue in the current financial year, 'with expansion potential as clinical adoption grows". Bcal launched Breastest Plus locally on March 27, generating first revenue for the company. We'll know more when the company releases its June quarter report later this month. Morgans values Neurizon shares at a 160% premium Broker Morgans says Neurizon Therapeutics' (ASX:NUZ) deal with the maker of its repurposed drug candidate should save the company both time and money for little upfront cost. Neurizon yesterday said it had entered into an exclusive global licensing agreement with Elanco Animal Health. This enables Neurizon to access key data pertaining to monepantel, which had been approved as a sheep drench. Monepantel is the active ingredient in Neurizon's human drug candidate NUZ-101, to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS. ALS is the most common form of motor neurone disease. Morgans says the access to the clinical and non-clinical data should 'significantly truncate timelines' ahead of potential FDA approval. The terms of the deal are 'heavily back ended', with a nominal upfront amount. The company pays up to US$9.75 million in development milestones but most of the contingent amount – US$65 million – is based on sales. 'The time and risk saved is worth a small clip of the ticket and provides further incentive for Elanco to help Neurizon open doors to potential partners globally,' Morgans says. While acknowledging the 'considerable clinical risk', Morgans reckons the stock is worth 42 cents compared with today's opening value of 16 cents.
