Study gives Deaconess high rating

Deaconess Medical Center has received accolades as a top-tier healthcare provider, according to a study conducted by a hospital ratings group.

In particular, Deaconess was ranked best in the state of Washington for its overall cardiac services and overall vascular services, according to HealthGrades.

The hospital, managed by Empire Health Services, also ranked in the top 10 percent in the nation for cardiac, vascular and gastrointestinal services.

There were a total of 28 procedures and diagnoses rated.

HealthGrades bills itself as the nation’s leading provider of independent hospital ratings.

For the past eight years it has conducted its Hospital Quality in America Study, which analyzes about 5,000 hospitals in all 50 states.

For more information on the rankings, visit www.healthgrades.com.

Agriculture Secretary to visit Nov. 3

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns will travel to Eastern Washington on Nov. 3 and hold a forum about federal programs that aid farmers.

Johanns, the highest-ranking official within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, arrives at a sensitive time on the farm.

Wheat growers are feeling the pinch of high prices for diesel fuel and fertilizer. At the same time, crop prices are flat and federal dollars are short.

The federal Farm Bill will be up for renewal in 2007 and promises to be another contentious measure, with political interests divided by party, region, and commodity. The bill will address federal spending on agriculture, along with conservation programs and food stamps.

Johanns is personally traveling to a handful of cities to listen firsthand to farmers about their concerns and needs.

The forum is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 3 at Eastern Washington University, although a time and an exact location haven’t been set. It will be open to the public.

Johanns was sworn in last January as Ag Secretary. He had been governor of Nebraska.

Wholesale inflation rises sharply

Wholesale inflation jumped by the largest amount in 15 years in September and there are worrisome signs that soaring energy prices from the hurricanes are beginning to spill over to the rest of the economy.

Prices at the wholesale level rose 1.9 percent, the biggest increase since the first Persian Gulf War in 1990. Like the 1.2 percent September jump in consumer prices announced last week, the biggest in 25 years, the surge was led by energy costs reflecting the widespread shutdowns of production following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

But the report on wholesale prices raised more worries because it showed that outside of food and energy, price pressures were increasing. The so-called “core rate” of wholesale inflation rose by 0.3 percent last month after no change in August.

The rise in wholesale prices stoked inflation fears on Wall Street and sent stock prices tumbling. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 62.84 points to close at 10,285.26.

Of 30 nonfood consumer goods tracked in the wholesale price report, 20 posted price increases and only two — soaps and toys — showed price declines, a marked turnaround from earlier in the year when most categories were showing declines.

Among the big price increases were 1.1 percent for women’s apparel, 0.9 percent for passenger cars and 1 percent for heavy trucks, a gain that analysts said may be related to increased demand for vehicles to help in the Gulf Coast clean-up.

The worry is that a sharp jump in energy prices will begin to put pressure on products outside of energy and cause the underlying rate of inflation to start rising. That could prompt the Federal Reserve to accelerate its interest rate increases in an effort to slow the economy as a way of keeping inflation from getting out of hand.