JoNel Aleccia

A top-level manager at Empire Health Services has resigned, barely two months after taking over day-to-day operations at the Spokane hospital system awaiting sale. Philip G. Dionne, who started work in May as chief administrative officer, resigned July 6, Empire officials said Monday.

Identities of people who visit inmates in the Spokane County Jail will remain secret for now, after a deputy county prosecutor refused this week to honor an attorney general's office request to disclose them. The issue arose Thursday after The Spokesman-Review asked for a list of people who had visited or requested interviews with Jonathan Lytle, a Spokane man charged with homicide by abuse in connection with the death of his 4-year-old daughter, Summer Phelps.

Spokane's Ronald McDonald Care Mobile has been sent back to Chicago after two regional medical providers couldn't find funding for the low-income clinic on wheels. About 1,100 patients who had no money and no transportation for immunizations, health screenings, physicals and other services were told in January that the program was on "hiatus," according to a recorded phone message.

A 15-month-old Spokane County boy was among four children in Washington and more than four dozen nationwide who contracted a rare form of salmonella poisoning possibly linked to a popular snack food often given to kids, health officials said Thursday. All codes and expiration dates of Veggie Booty snack food products are being recalled by the manufacturer after the federal Food and Drug Administration warned consumers Thursday not to eat the treats because of the possibility of contamination. Veggie Booty snacks are manufactured by Robert's American Gourmet in Sea Cliff, N.Y.

By 2026, at least a quarter of Spokane's population is expected to be older than 60, a projection that should galvanize government officials and ordinary folks starting now. Better transportation, more accessible living spaces and protection against falls, a leading cause of hospitalization, ought to be at the top of the community's collective list of things to do to benefit the elderly.

A dangerous, drug-resistant staph infection that spreads through touch is about 10 times more common than previously estimated, according to a comprehensive national study released Monday. Nearly 5 percent of patients in hospitals and nursing homes in the Inland Northwest and elsewhere may be infected with the so-called "superbug" known as MRSA, according to the survey that included information from Sacred Heart Medical Center, Deaconess Medical Center and at least three other area hospitals.

Empire Health Services officials cooperated with a Spokane TV station on stories about the proposed sale of two hospitals and other holdings weeks before the information was released to employees, doctors and the public. An Empire Health spokeswoman acknowledged this week that crews from KHQ-TV agreed to delay reporting about the potential sale to Community Health Systems Inc. of Tennessee in exchange for access to proprietary information and corporate officials before the June 14 public announcement that Empire had signed an intent-to-sell agreement with CHS.

Four People's Clinic sites in Spokane will remain open for at least a year after the new president of Washington State University intervened in a proposed closure. Elson S. Floyd pledged Tuesday to use $400,000 in one-time reserves to allow nearly 3,000 students and other low-income clients to receive care beyond the end of July.

The Washington mother of one of Summer Phelps' playmates and a Connecticut mother moved by chilling news accounts have launched an Internet petition they hope will change child abuse laws following the death of the Spokane 4-year-old. Though they're separated by 3,000 miles, Catherine Latour, of Bremerton, and Heather Schlichting, of Connecticut, said they're joined by outrage over Summer's death – and fear that it will be forgotten.

Steve and Belle Autry didn't notice the green and white flag that fluttered above Spokane's Sacred Heart Medical Center last Saturday, the day they turned wrenching grief into a great gift. But the signal flew just the same in honor of their daughter, Gabriella, the toddler who died after a May 23 car crash apparently caused by a driver distracted by a cell phone.

A Utah health care consultant has been named chief executive officer of Valley Hospital and Medical Center, the second top management position filled this month by Empire Health Services officials. Robert L. Quist, 62, took over last week at the Spokane Valley hospital, filling a position vacant for nearly two years. His selection comes as Empire officials seek financial investors or possible buyers for the century-old community hospital system.

Spokane Regional Health District officials are considering a pay increase of up to 16 percent as they begin searching for a replacement for fired health officer Dr. Kim Thorburn. A draft job description set for review today recommends a salary range of $130,000 to $145,000 annually, up from the $125,000 Thorburn earned.

When Jason Hamilton's weekend rage sent three of his five shooting victims to Moscow's Gritman Medical Center, it was the first test of a new arrangement that provides more blood faster to the region's rural hospitals in emergencies. Gritman was among three Palouse hospitals to join Spokane's Inland Northwest Blood Center in April, switching from an American Red Cross blood bank that had to ship blood from as far as Salt Lake City.

Washington child welfare officials logged at least a half dozen complaints about the adults in charge of Summer Phelps' care before the 4-year-old's death by abuse in March, newly released state records show. Most were dueling accusations between the child's estranged parents dating nearly to her birth in July 2002.

Spokane residents with heart problems may be eligible to join a national study of two popular cholesterol medications conducted in part by Washington State University. WSU is one of 75 health institutions nationwide participating in a five-year federal program evaluating how two cholesterol drugs can lower the risk of heart disease, officials said.