Month: January 2012

Dozens of Wausau children will receive free dental care Friday as part of a nationwide charitable event. The ADA estimates more than 400,000 kids nationwide will receive free dental care Friday -- including about 5,600 low-income children across Wisconsin. (WAUSAU DAILY HERALD, 1/31)

The Wisconsin Hospital Association has launched a statewide initiative, funded with money included in the federal health care reform law, to reduce both hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions. Roughly 100 hospitals plan to participate in the initiative. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/30)

Wisconsin Republicans say they're focusing squarely on jobs this year, but numerous proposals that advocates say are part of an anti-reproductive rights agenda are working their way through the Legislature and could soon head to Gov. Scott Walker for approval. Those measures range from changes in the state's sex education curriculum to weighing in on the national debate over when life begins. (AP, 1/30)

Additional sick notes from last year's Capitol protests released Thursday by the Madison School District reveal two more doctors who provided excuses the district deemed "fraudulent." That brings to 15 the number of doctors who signed such notes but have not faced sanctions from the state Medical Examining Board. A board committee plans to decide next month whether to investigate additional doctors. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 1/27)

Milwaukee County would run the state Family Care program for Racine and Kenosha counties this year for about $1.5 million, under a deal that won preliminary approval from a County Board panel Wednesday. Milwaukee County would arrange for in-home care services for the elderly and people with disabilities in the two other counties - an expansion that likely would coincide with an expected influx of new clients in Milwaukee County. (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/26)

Aurora Health Care CEO Dr. Nick Turkal said he is committed to always providing services at Aurora Sinai Medical Center, but changes need to be made in the months ahead to make it work. "The time has come for a thoughtful solution to the community-wide challenge of providing health services to Milwaukee's underserved," Turkal said in a letter to Milwaukee-area business executives. "We have listened to your concerns and understand that cost shifting to businesses is not an option." (MILWAUKEE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/25)

A top official of Epic Systems Corp. dazzled his tech industry colleagues on Tuesday with figures of the Add NewVerona company's rapid growth. Epic, which develops and installs electronic health record systems, started in the basement of a building on old University Avenue in 1979. Now, the company owns 811 acres in Verona, Stephen Dickmann, chief administrative officer, told about 160 people at the Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon meeting at the Sheraton Hotel. (WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 1/25)