Regional Briefs

By: JournalNow Staff | JOURNAL STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
Published: July 11, 2008

Baptist listed as one of best U.S. hospitals

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center has been listed as one of the nation's best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

The 2008 edition of "America's Best Hospitals" is included in the magazine's next issue, which will hit newsstands Monday. It is the 15th consecutive year Baptist has been ranked in the survey.

It was ranked among the nation's top hospitals in five categories -- respiratory disorders (20th), cancer (26th), endocrinology (35th), kidney disease (38th) and urology (48th). It is the first time it has been ranked for kidney disease.

The survey includes 170 medical centers nationwide out of a total of 5,453 that were evaluated. Only 50 hospitals per specialty are ranked in each of 16 categories.

The magazine said that the goal of the rankings is to identify medical centers that excel at treating a variety of demanding illnesses within a specialty.

"Hospitals nationwide are evaluated by a number of factors, including reputation, mortality ratio (actual deaths compared to expected deaths), the availability of advanced technologies, how many patient and community services are provided, the ratio of registered nurses to beds, and the number of patients treated in a particular specialty," said Avery Comarow, the editor of the Best Hospitals section.

Novant to consolidate billing in Winston-Salem, Charlotte

Novant Health Inc. said yesterday that it is consolidating its four billing offices into centralized billing offices in Winston-Salem and Charlotte. It is closing billing offices in Winston-Salem and Fort Mill, S.C., in the consolidation.

Freda Springs, a spokeswoman for Novant, said that the health-care system will handle billing functions for its nine hospitals in Winston-Salem. The Charlotte office will handle billings for its physician practices.

Springs said that there will be no job cuts or layoffs associated with the consolidation. "In fact, we anticipate the number of jobs to grow in coming years," Springs said.

Sections of I-85 to be named for Childress, Timberlake

The N.C. Board of Transportation voted yesterday to dedicate sections of Interstate 85 in honor of two famous Davidson County residents.

A portion of I-85 between U.S. 64 and N.C. 8 will be renamed the Bob Timberlake Highway. Another section on I-85, between U.S. 64 and Lake Road, will be called the Richard Childress Highway.

Timberlake is a well-known artist in Lexington, and Childress runs Richard Childress Racing in Welcome.

House Commerce Committee approves ticket-scalping bill

RALEIGH -- North Carolina's ban on ticket scalping wouldn't apply to people who resell tickets online as part of a bill that has cleared a House committee.

Current law prohibits tickets from being sold for more than $3 more than face value. The bill approved yesterday by the House Commerce Committee would carve out an exception for online sales. The bill also assesses a 3 percent privilege tax on the seller's profit. The bill already passed the Senate. It now goes to the House Finance Committee.

WE WERE WRONG

A story in yesterday's Winston-Salem Journal about a local solider misidentified her unit. Sgt. Miranda Pressley is with the 426 Brigade Support Battalion, First Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.