Business in brief: Hospitals noted for data network
Seven Spokane-area hospitals that rely on a shared computer data network have been included in a magazine’s recent list of the nation’s most wired hospitals.
Hospital and Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Association, chose the seven facilities on the basis of their use of technology provided by Inland Northwest Health Services. INHS, a nonprofit collaborative service provider, manages an integrated database of medical records for the area’s hospitals.
The facilities are Deaconess Medical Center, Holy Family Hospital, Sacred Heart Medical Center, St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute, Valley Hospital and Medical Center, Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene, and Mount Carmel Hospital in Colville.
The shared-data network manages more than 2.6 million patient records and includes full access to inpatient and emergency room visits, including physician orders, medication information, laboratory data and radiological images.
Omaha, Neb.
Buffett begins converting shares
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has begun converting 474,998 Class A shares of his investment company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., to Class B shares, so he can give them away.
As he outlined on June 25, Buffett will start giving away the bulk of his $43.2 billion fortune this month through annual gifts of Class B Berkshire stock to five foundations, with the biggest gift going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Buffett converted 124,998 of his Class A Berkshire shares, worth about $11 billion, to Class B shares on Friday, according to documents filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. One Class A share, which sold for $91,000 on Monday, can be converted into 30 Class B shares, which closed at $3,033.80.
Washington
New Treasury secretary sworn in
Henry M. Paulson took over Monday as the nation’s 74th Treasury secretary, pledging to make sure the country does not retreat from the global economy.
The former head of Goldman Sachs Group was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts in the Treasury Department’s ornate Cash Room with President Bush, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other dignitaries from the administration and Congress looking on.
“We must always remember that the strength of the U.S. economy is linked to the strength of the global economy,” Paulson said in his brief remarks. “If we retreat from the global stage, the void is likely to be filled by those who do not share our commitment to economic reform.”
Paulson said he planned to expand trade and investment, modernize international financial markets and “be vigilant in identifying and managing potential financial vulnerability.”
Bush praised Paulson for giving up the top job at Goldman Sachs to become his third Treasury secretary as part of a Cabinet shake-up designed to bolster the president’s sagging public approval ratings and stalled second term economic agenda.