Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
HAWAII
Castle Medical Center starts $15.5M renovation Castle Medical Center broke ground yesterday on a $15.5 million expansion and renovation project that will create more space in patient rooms for bedside equipment and visitors.
Castle will add a new three-story, 15,000-square-foot wing at the rear of the hospital and will refurbish existing rooms.
The hospital's license limits the facility to its current 157 total rooms, a number that will not be changed by the project. But the expansion will result in larger rooms throughout the hospital and increase the number of private rooms.Ê
St. Louis-based Hospital Building & Equipment Co. has been selected as the general contractor for the current expansion, which is expected to be completed within two years.
The project is the second major expansion undertaken recently at the hospital. In 2002, Castle opened its Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Medical Plaza and Wellness Center.
NATION & WORLD
SEC investigating Fannie Mae WASHINGTON >> A federal report accusing Fannie Mae, the giant mortgage company, of improper accounting has led to an informal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company's board announced yesterday. Shares of the company fell $4.96 to $70.69 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, released a report on the Internet last night, saying that an ongoing, eight-month investigation had found improper "cookie jar" accounting -- that is, setting aside artificially large cash reserves to reduce revenues in some years so they can be drawn on in other years when it needs higher revenues and earnings, thus smoothing out earnings.
The SEC says the practice gives investors an inaccurate picture of a company's financial performance.
For many, money is satisfaction
WASHINGTON >> Money may not buy happiness, but for many people it apparently puts a down payment on satisfaction.People who make more than $75,000 a year are far more likely than those who make $25,000 or less to say are "very satisfied" with their lives -- 56 percent of the higher-income group compared with 24 percent of the lower-income group, according to Associated Press polling.
Money alone doesn't equal satisfaction, however. People who are married and have college degrees were more likely to be "very satisfied" than others who had equal incomes, the polling found.
"Money is not everything, but it allows you to do things many people can't always do," said Bob Russell, a 53-year-old businessman from Hockessin, Del.
Chi-Chi's eatery chain to bid adios
LOUISVILLE, Ky. >> Chi-Chi's, the Mexican restaurant chain, may have served its last chimichanga.Outback Steakhouse Inc. this week closed on its $42.5 million deal for the rights to 76 restaurants in the Chi-Chi's chain, which was beleaguered by bankruptcy and a hepatitis outbreak.
Outback plans to convert many of the restaurants into its own brands -- which include its signature Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grills, Bonefish Grills, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bars, Roy's and Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurants.
"We felt it was a good opportunity to acquire a large number of good locations that we can use for our brands," said Joseph Kadow, senior vice president for Outback Steakhouse Inc., based in Tampa, Fla.
The deal did not include Chi-Chi's brand, its restaurant operations or any recipes, Kadow said.
A statement posted on Louisville-based Chi-Chi's Web site said, "We would like to thank all of our loyal customers of the past 27 years and with a tear in our eye, say adios."
Health costs a struggle for low-income people
Privately insured, low-income workers with chronic medical conditions such as diabetes and asthma are being financially squeezed as employers shift the burden of higher health care costs to employees, a new study found.The number of such individuals spending more than 5 percent of their income on out-of-pocket medical costs soared 48 percent to 2.2 million people from 2001 to 2003, according to a study released today by the Center for Health System Change.
The average individual probably spends about 2 percent of income on out-of-pocket health care costs, said Ken Sperling, a consultant at Hewitt Associates, a benefit consultancy based in Lincolnshire, Ill.
"That means the low income worker is making some serious trade-off between medical care and food," Sperling said. "These people are strapped as it is."
The study also found that one-in-three privately insured, chronically ill, low-income individuals are from families that struggle to pay medical bills. In such families, 10 percent of patients opted not to receive care, 30 percent delayed care and 43 percent didn't fill a prescription because of the expense.
Adecco plans to buy into India company
BANGALORE, India >> Swiss headhunting company Adecco SA said yesterday it will acquire an initial 67 percent stake in India's Peopleone Consulting -- with the intent of eventually acquiring the entire company -- in an effort to tap the growing demand in India for recruitment services.Financial terms were not released, and regulators must still sign off on the deal.
