Providence health entities to merge
Two Providence health care companies, including the nonprofit organization that runs Sacred Heart Medical Center, will merge Jan. 1.
The boards of Providence Services and Providence Health System voted to align their operations in Washington, Montana, Oregon, Alaska and California.
The merger is not expected to change the day-to-day running of the group’s 27 hospitals, or the operations of clinics, college programs and other services that employ about 45,000 people.
The Catholic organization will be headquartered in Seattle and chaired by Kay Stepp.
Sacred Heart will remain the largest hospital in the organization. The merger is considered a way for the two groups to work more closely together.
NBC, Apple sign pact for online iTunes sales
San Jose NBC Universal has inked a deal with Apple Computer Inc. to become the latest network to sell television shows a la carte on Apple’s online iTunes store, the companies announced Tuesday.
More than 300 episodes from about a dozen prime time, cable, late-night and classic TV shows are now available for $1.99 apiece, viewable on computers or downloadable on the latest, video-capable iPod.
The programming spans from the 1950s to the present, including shows from “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Dragnet,” USA Network’s “Monk,” the Sci-Fi Channel’s “Battlestar Galactica,” and NBC’s hit series “Law & Order.” Sketches from “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” are also for sale.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Submarine builder plans major job cuts
New Haven, Conn. Submarine builder Electric Boat said Tuesday it would eliminate up to 2,400 jobs, or 20 percent of its work force, by the end of next year, citing the declining size of the nation’s submarine fleet and the Navy’s decision to steer repair work to its own shipyards that survived the base closure process.
Company spokesman Bob Hamilton said between 1,900 and 2,400 jobs would be eliminated. He said no decision has been made on the number of layoffs. Most jobs will be cut in Connecticut, but between 500 and 600 will be eliminated from its Rhode Island facility.
Electric Boat, a division of General Dynamics Corp., employs 11,800 people. It has contracts to build nine submarines by 2014.
Jaguar, Land Rover drop gay-targeted ads
Detroit
Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday its luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands will no longer advertise in gay publications, but the nation’s second-largest automaker denied that it made the decision under pressure from conservative Christian groups.
“The decision with regard to advertising was a business decision,” Ford spokesman Mike Moran said. He said Ford’s Volvo brand would continue advertising in gay publications. Ford has not advertised its Ford, Lincoln and Mercury brands in those publications, Moran added.
Moran said Jaguar and Land Rover, which are part of Ford’s money-losing Premier Automotive Group, have decided to cut back on their advertising everywhere because of difficult market conditions. The Premier Automotive Group reported a pretax loss of $108 million in the third quarter.