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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

JoNel Aleccia

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News >  Spokane

Rare disease kills Amazon parrot

A rare but highly contagious avian disease that sickens birds and humans has killed an Amazon parrot purchased from a Spokane pet store. The confirmed case of psittacosis, one of about a half dozen recorded this year in Washington, has fueled worries that humans might have been exposed to the respiratory disorder that can cause severe pneumonia and other health problems.
News >  Voices

INBC seeking holiday blood donors

Hoping to avert a blood shortage during the holidays, the Inland Northwest Blood Center is sponsoring a four-week blood drive starting Monday. Organizers are offering incentives that range from T-shirts to the chance to win a stay at a timeshare or a downtown hotel package. The goal is to avoid the annual drop in donations that coincides with bad weather and busy holiday schedules, said Brett Johnson, marketing coordinator for the agency.
News >  Spokane

Better nursing home care tied to patients’ wealth

Patients in Washington nursing homes that care primarily for the poor suffer from a lower quality of life than those with more affluent clients, according to a study released by an advocacy group last week. Patients in homes in Spokane and elsewhere that serve high numbers of Medicaid clients are more likely to suffer from bedsores and to spend most of their time in a bed or a chair. They're allocated less time from caregivers and less money per day than those in nursing homes with more private-pay clients, according to the report by the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, an advocacy group.

News >  Spokane

VA center clarifies services

Officials at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Spokane have sent new letters to 23,000 local veterans warning that the hospital does not offer emergency care. The letters, the second mailing in six months, are following reports of death and injuries to veterans who have shown up at the hospital's urgent care center after hours or with illnesses too severe to treat.
News >  Spokane

For many, bureau is only hope for gifts

Leann Hutt's kids are only three of the thousands of Inland Northwest children expected to receive help from the Christmas Bureau starting today. But the 33-year-old Spokane Valley mother said there's nothing generic about the gratitude her family feels for a program that provides gifts and food she couldn't otherwise afford.
News >  Features

INHS head named to health information technology board

The leader of Inland Northwest Health Services in Spokane has been named to a newly formed agency aimed at developing and monitoring health-care information technology. Thomas M. Fritz, INHS chief executive officer, will join the board of trustees for the Certification Commission for Health-care Information Technology.
News >  Idaho

Unlikely AIDS victim says no one risk-free

Her risk was so low, even the doctor didn't test for HIV infection. But the North Idaho grandmother was sick just the same. She finally found out what was wrong a year ago, when her husband of nearly three decades confessed that he'd been having sex with men for years.
News >  Spokane

Healing far from home

She can't help but turn heads now, the tiny child in the plaid party dress. With her wide, brown eyes and shy smile, the toddler from El Salvador pads around in petite pink shoes, cradling a baby doll and demanding yet another piece of chocolate.
News >  Features

Sacred Heart marks 200th heart transplant

Sacred Heart Medical Center surgeons recently completed the hospital's 200th heart transplant, a milestone in the program's 17-year-history. Dr. Tim Icenogle said the procedure went well and that the patient recovered in the intensive-care unit at the hospital. According to peer-reviewed medical statistics, Sacred Heart's heart transplant survival rate exceeds the national average, Icenogle said. The one-year survival rate is 94 percent, compared to 88 percent nationwide. The five-year survival rate is 86 percent compared to 73 percent nationwide, and the local 10-year rate is 72 percent, compared to 53 percent nationwide, Icenogle indicated.
News >  Spokane

Flu shot fight

Vicki Dinning pushed her mobile flu cart down the halls of Holy Family Hospital in Spokane, searching for her next volunteer – or victim, as the case may be. Staffers in the path of the woman known as "the Shot Lady" knew it was no use to flee. Instead, they either swore they'd already received this year's vaccination against influenza, or they sighed and rolled up a sleeve.
News >  Spokane

Public can’t testify at Thorburn hearing

No public testimony will be accepted Monday at a hearing to allow Dr. Kim Thorburn to address the board that fired her. Spokane Regional Health District Board members are not obligated to hold a public hearing on last week's decision to terminate the health officer's nine-year contract, Chairman Todd Mielke said Tuesday.
News >  Spokane

Firing may hinder search

Finding a replacement for Dr. Kim Thorburn – even temporarily – might be more difficult than Spokane Regional Health District board members anticipated, the state's longest-serving health officer said. Dr. Ed Gray has agreed to advise the local health district, but he said Thorburn's lingering no-confidence vote, protracted evaluation process and abrupt dismissal last week would make others leery of stepping in.
News >  Spokane

More families say VA center refused to help in emergencies

Nearly two months after an 83-year-old veteran collapsed in the parking lot outside Spokane's Veterans Administration Medical Center – and later died – more former soldiers and their families are contending the agency denied them appropriate emergency care. At least three local residents said VA urgent care workers didn't help during medical emergencies, including a woman who claimed her 70-year-old husband died at Holy Family Hospital hours after a receptionist rudely turned him away.
News >  Spokane

Spokane health district scrambling

Dr. Kim Thorburn's sudden dismissal from the Spokane Regional Health District left staff scrambling Thursday to cover her duties and Washington officials pondering leadership of the state board of health. Doctors from nearby counties will temporarily monitor public health concerns ranging from tuberculosis control to potential outbreaks of communicable disease, said Torney Smith, the Spokane district's administrator.
News >  Spokane

Good will abounds

Warm-hearted volunteers who thought they'd spend Thanksgiving serving others might want to think again. Across the Inland Northwest, many agencies that dish up free holiday meals say thanks, but they've got plenty of help.
News >  Spokane

Thorburn fired

Citing a relationship fractured beyond repair, Spokane Regional Health Board members voted unanimously Wednesday to terminate the contract of the agency's health officer, Dr. Kim Thorburn. Board members agreed to dismiss the nine-year veteran without cause and without complaint about her professional credentials or public health performance, said Chairman Todd Mielke.
News >  Spokane

10 African refugees screened for polio

Spokane health officials are screening 10 East African refugees for polio infection after they may have been exposed to the virus at a Kenyan camp or processing center. None of the refugees who arrived between Sept. 1 and Oct. 15 has exhibited signs of the paralyzing illness that's been largely eradicated in the United States.
News >  Features

Packet may help parents talk to kids about sex

Parents of children from birth through teens can get information about talking to their kids about sex and related health issues, thanks to a new packet compiled by Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest. The free information will be mailed to anyone who requests it, said Margaret Mount, education director for the agency. The packet includes advice about when, why and how to address issues of sexuality with children at every age.
News >  Spokane

CT scanner puts KMC on cutting edge

Patients who show up in cardiac distress at Kootenai Medical Center can take comfort knowing they'll be diagnosed faster, more accurately and less invasively, thanks to a new $2.5 million, cutting-edge CT scanner. KMC is the first community hospital in the country – and only the eighth institution nationwide – to install a Siemens SOMATOM Definition dual-source, dual-X-ray computed tomography scanner, a machine so fast it can make real-time images of a beating heart.
News >  Spokane

Dementia patient IDs give peace of mind

There's a reason so few people are signed up for the Safe Return program sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association in the Inland Northwest. And it has nothing to do with the effectiveness of the project that helps locate dementia sufferers when they wander.
News >  Features

Health notes Health notes

Medical providers across Washington and in Spokane have boosted their quality of care by nearly 10 percent in the past five years, a new study based on specific, industry-wide standards showed. Nearly three-quarters of 16 clinics serving 300,000 Premera Blue Cross insurance members met standards for preventative, acute and chronic care last year, agency officials said last week.
News >  Spokane

Record judgment reduced

A record $18 million jury award has been replaced by a $3.5 million settlement between the operators of a North Idaho nursing home and the family of a man reportedly drugged to death in their care. Post-trial negotiations reduced the amount granted to the family of Delbert L. Hayward, an 86-year-old mechanic who died in 1995 at the Valley Vista Care Center in St. Maries, representatives on both sides said Monday.
News >  Spokane

Medicare Part D help available

Kit Sherfey is a retired accountant, which means he's got the time and expertise to take on the government's prescription drug plan, Medicare Part D. But even Sherfey was reduced to furrowed brows and muttered complaints last week as he clicked his way through www.medicare.gov in his Spokane basement.
News >  Spokane

Spokane man heralded in both communities

Dr. Michael Manz, the bearded, boisterous entrepreneur known equally for his twin vocations of psychiatry and winemaking, died early Wednesday at his Spokane home. He was 58. Family members suspected that Manz, who had a recent history of heart problems, suffered a heart attack in his sleep.