All Over Albany

NYPIRG: St. Peter's tops state for patient visiting policies

St. Peter's Hospital is one of the top-ranked hospitals in a new NYPIRG report on hospital visiting policies around the state.

The report surveyed the policies at 99 acute care hospitals in the state with 200 or more "staffed beds." NYPIRG says it found "significant, unexplained variations in":

+ Visiting hours and restrictions on visitation;

+ Consistency with the patient's legal right to choose priority visitors whether or not they are members of the patient's "immediate family"; and

+ Transparency and clarity of website communications.

St. Peter's scored a 10 (on a 1-10 scale) for "visiting hours flexibility" and an 8 for "website visiting info availability." Three other hospitals also received a 10 in that first category -- St. Peter's had the highest combined score of any hospital.

The report includes scores for five Capital Region hospitals -- the scores are post jump.

The whole NYPIRG report includes recommendations and a lot of detail. For patients, it can probably be boiled down to: Contrary to how it may sometimes appear, hospital patients often have a fair amount of discretion in who can visit them (even people who are not technically "family") and when. If in doubt, be sure to ask.

(there's more)

St. Peters + Northeast Health + Seton Health

Any guesses on the typeface?

The merged health care group being formed by St. Peter's, Northeast Health, and Seton Health announced today that it's adopting a new name: St. Peter's Health Partners.

You'll start seeing that name all over. Once the merger is official, St. Peter's Health Partners will join Albany Medical Center as the two big hospital players in this area.

The group says the official roll-out of the new branding won't be until 2012. The major hospitals in the group -- St. Peter's, Albany Memorial, Samaritan, and St. Mary's -- will keep their names (example, "St. Peter's Health Partners: Albany Memorial Hospital").

The new logo for SPHP is above. It kind of has a NEJM thing going for it. The group released documents explaining how it arrived at the name. (Were there consultants? You know it. Short story: St. Peter's had the most name recognition in surveys.) If you're a branding or design nerd, you might find them interesting. They're embedded after the jump.

(there's more)

Police say Saratoga Winners fire was arson, earthquake near Berne, two men Cheney'd while hunting turkey, time capsule found

Colonie police say the owner of Saratoga Winners set the club on fire so he could collect the insurance money. The owner is a former gynecologist -- his medical license was revoked 2006. [Troy Record] [TU]

The USGS reports there was a magnitude 3 earthquake near Berne last night -- people report that it woke them up. [USGS] [CBS6]

Stillwater says water usage in the town is down 2 million gallons (no time frame given)-- perhaps out of concern about PCB contamination from the Hudson seeping into the town's wells. [CapNews9]

One of the highest-profile potential primary challengers to Kirsten Gillibrand says he won't run for the Senate. Steve Israel, a Congressman from Long Island, says President Obama asked him to not challenge Gillibrand. [TU] [NYT]

A man in New York City died last night from complications related to the emerging H1N1 influenza -- New York's State's first reported death from the virus. NYC has closed 10 schools in an effort to keep a lid on another flu flare up. [NYT]

(there's more)

State worker unions confront Paterson at Gideon Putnam, Murphy lead over Tedisco widens, why the Dalai Lama reconsidered, bank knocked over with electric drill, Saratoga grid could get smart, Dr. Wow

The state worker unions protested the planned job cuts outside the state Democratic Rural Conference Friday evening at the Gideon Putnam. David Paterson stopped outside the meetings to talk with the protesters -- though one union rep called the impromptu session "absolutely unproductive." Paterson later told a news conference that the unions haven't been willing to "any sort of effort that would help us balance our budget." The unions say the state save money by cutting the use of outside contractors. [Post-Star] [TU] [Daily Gazette] [Saratogian]

Police say the gunman in the Union St. shooting last week was the boyfriend of the murdered man's estranged wife. Police say the shooter shot himself in Niskayuna after he saw police at his apartment. They say they're not sure what motivated the incident. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

The unofficial count from the New York State Board of Elections has Scott Murphy up 273 votes on Jim Tedisco in the NY20 special election. [NYS BoE]

A rep for the Dalai Lama says the Buddhist spiritual leader has decided to come to Albany because he "feels committed to supporting the expression of worthy ideals." The Dalai Lama had cancelled an earlier appearance because of the negative publicity associated with the Ethical Humanitarian Foundation, the sponsoring organization. EHF is connected to a Clifton Park executive leadership program that's been accused of cult-like tactics. [TU] [Forbes]

A plant that processes hazardous waste in Cohoes was grossly under reporting its emissions for years, according to an analysis of EPA numbers by the TU. [TU]

Police say the human skeleton found in Rotterdam near the Mohawk last week belonged to a man who was reported missing in 2005. They say they're not sure what caused the man's death. [TU] [Daily Gazette]

State police say the guy who robbed the Key Bank on Hoosick St in Troy on Friday might have used to an electric drill for the stick-up.

New York State's unemployment benefits are not indexed to inflation -- and have not been raised by the state legislature for more than a decade. [NYT]

An Albany police commander says a small group of young people are responsible for about 75 percent of gun violence in the city. [TU]

(there's more)

That's a really big crane

It'll make your inner four-year-old smile.

We couldn't help but notice the crane that's being used for the St. Peter's expansion. It's enormous -- it even dwarfs the hospital.

So how big is it exactly? Well, you know we had to find out.

(there's more)