West Penn Allegheny Health System (WPAHS) today reported its financial results for the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year, demonstrating that it is continuing its tradition of clinical excellence while executing its restructuring plans. WPAHS’ first quarter of fiscal year 2010 ended September 30, 2010.

WPAHS recorded a net profit of $3.6 million in the first quarter. The System’s first quarter results also included restructuring costs of $3 million specifically associated with the reconfiguration of its delivery system. Additionally, the System posted an operating loss of $3.6 million in the first quarter, after a $9.5 million gain from the sale of its outpatient dialysis centers to DaVita, the nation’s largest independent provider of dialysis care. According to Christopher T. Olivia, MD, president and CEO, West Penn Allegheny Health System’s relationship with DaVita will enhance the scope and sophistication of the care the System can provide for patients with renal disease.

WPAHS also recently announced changes to its city hospitals as part of its overall plan to revise its delivery model. The Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Bloomfield will continue to support inpatient service for the system’s Women’s and Infants’ Center, including obstetrics, gynecology, gynecologic oncology, and neonatal intensive care unit. In addition, it will offer inpatient services for the renowned West Penn Burn Unit and inpatient rehabilitation services. Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) on the North Side will serve as West Penn Allegheny’s quaternary facility. Both facilities will continue to offer numerous outpatient services and outpatient surgery programs.

“Our many operational improvements and expense reductions have enabled us to weather declining inpatient volumes in the city of Pittsburgh,” said Dr. Olivia. “However, we know we need to do more to ensure our long-term financial security. We are now undergoing a major transformation of our health care delivery model to help us reach an operating profit in the future. This is necessary for us to continue to fulfill our charitable purpose and mission, which we believe are vital to the people of Western Pennsylvania.”

West Penn Allegheny’s first quarter results also demonstrate evidence of AGH’s resurgence as major referral center for heart transplantation. Twelve heart transplants were performed at AGH during the quarter, a 200 percent
increase year over year.

The hospital is on a record pace to perform over 30 heart transplants in calendar year 2011 and the program’s quality indicators place it among the nation’s top transplant centers, said Stephen Bailey, MD, Director of AGH’s Division of Cardiac Surgery.

“The growth of our heart transplant program over the past five years exemplifies this organization’s commitment to developing high quality, quaternary services and recruiting the highest caliber of medical professionals to lead them,” said George Magovern, MD, Chair of the System’s Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

Srinivas Murali, MD, Director of AGH’s Division of Cardiology and Medical Director of the hospital’s Gerald McGinnis Cardiovascular Institute, said the heart transplant program has been greatly enhanced through significant investment in the Cardiovascular Institute and the recruitment of talented, nationally recognized heart transplant specialists like Raymond Benza, MD, George Sokos, MD and Robert Moraca, MD.

Forget the mall, this Saturday, do your Christmas shopping in local businesses.

Here are the top five reasons to support a small business on Small Business Saturday:

1. Buying local creates jobs: As the old saying goes, everyone talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. Well, the same could be said for jobs. Congress just changed hands mainly because of jobs, and President Obama’s job is in trouble because of jobs. We all want more jobs, but no one seems to be able to create them.

But buying local is YOUR chance to do something about it.

Did you know that half of all employees in the U.S. work for small business, and that small businesses create 60 percent of all new jobs? By participating in Small Business Saturday (and small business Sunday through Friday too) you foster job creation in a very real and tangible way.

Buy local, create a job.

2. Small business fosters community: What is a community, anyway? It is a group of people with something in common. If you go downtown in your city, the community you will likely find is one of small business owners. When a downtown has a bustling small business district, it is usually said there is a strong community there, and conversely, when there are too many empty storefronts, it is bad for the community.

By buying local then, and supporting your neighborhood small businesses, you are fostering a strong community in your community.

3. Buying local keeps the dream alive: What is a small business? Sure, from an economic perspective it is an entity engaged in commerce that sells goods or services for a profit. But that dry definition fails to do justice to what a small business really is.

A small business is someone’s dream.

It takes a lot of courage to leave the security of a 9 to 5 job and venture out on one’s own. Being an entrepreneur is a risky enterprise that usually happens when someone’s passion is so overpowering they cannot help but start their own business. Given that most small business people have little formal business education and that they are fueled by passion more than profit, they are generally a self-taught lot who learn as they go, make mistakes, keep calm and carry on.

By supporting small business, you are allowing someone to live the dream another day.

4. Buying local boosts your local economy: There is an economic ripple effect that occurs when you support a small business.

First of all, as indicated, it fosters jobs; the owner needs to hire people to service his customers.

But the economic ripple goes far beyond that. There are the employees with money in their pocket; they spend that money with other small businesses. Moreover, there is the business owner with profit in her pocket. She spends that on buying more goods to sell, on taking care of her family, and on growing her business. Then, there is the business. That business pays taxes, which helps build roads and fund schools and the police.

Buying local creates an economic cycle that helps everyone.

5. Buying local creates a ripple in society: Think about throwing a pebble into a still pond. It creates a concentric circle that starts small and then ripples out bigger and bigger, right? Well, that is exactly what happens when you support a local small business, and this ripple is different than the economic ripple. This is a spiritual/psychological ripple.

When a small business person succeeds, it is noticed. It may be a child who sees that dad didn’t have such a kooky idea after all and that dreams do come true. Or it may be the entrepreneur’s neighbor, who sees the successes and decides that he could do it too.

The ripple grows.

One successful small business begets others. New entrepreneurs create more entrepreneurs. Enthusiasm breeds imitation. Suddenly, that blighted block downtown is bustling with energy.

And it all starts, literally, when you choose to spend some money at a local small business.

Celebrate “Small Business Saturday” by visiting your favorite locally-owned businesses on Saturday, November 27.

The BDC set up in front of Starbucks, who donated hot coffee and served a light breakfast with help from Giant Eagle Market District. Although it was a little chilly, it was a beautiful day, and in just a couple of hours we collected over ten bags of trash!

We have the best group of volunteers ever! Thanks to everyone that helped!

If you’re not able to volunteer, you can still do your part by not tossing cigarettes and other litter on our sidewalks, streets and in our tree beds; and if you see litter, place it in a trash can!

Happy Thanksgiving!

East End Mutual Aid, a neighborhood association offering assistance in a variety of capacities for residents of Bloomfield, Garfield, Friendship, and East Liberty, is offering free residential snow shoveling this winter for those in need as a part of the Helping Hands Hotline. With winter fast approaching, we wanted to inform members of the community who may be in need of show shoveling on how they can request assistance.

How it works:

1. Individuals sign up their home addresses to the list of those requesting assistance at www.eastendmutualaid.org/hotline or by calling 412-385-3362.
2. When a storm hits, our volunteers are dispatched to the houses on the list. We shovel the public areas outside the home and inquire if any other specific help is needed.
3. We additionally staff a hotline during the storm for anyone needing immediate help.

Volunteers will not go inside your house, unless there is a specific request for help with something inside your home, and we do not accept compensation. This is an all-volunteer, free service, no monetary payment or tipping is accepted. We are doing this in furtherance of our group’s commitment to community mutual aid.

If you or someone you know needs help this winter or if you would like to volunteer, you can sign-up at www.eastendmutualaid.org/hotline. We are going door to door to hand out information on this and our other projects.

For questions, concerns, feedback, and other communications call 412-385-3362.

Just in time for Christmas, I’m three feet tall, super soft and really really cute! Come meet me in the fur at Joan’s Hallmark.

Purchase raffle tickets from Exercise Warehouse, Fidelity Bank, Best-Made Shoes, Bloomfield Drug or Joan’s Hallmark. One for $1 or six for $5. Ticket will be drawn Saturday, December 18, 2010.

The BDC is looking for volunteers to help with our final 2010 “Redd Up”! If you would like to help us clean up Liberty Avenue, send me an email at fordaiello@verizon.net or just show up. We will have hot coffee, brooms, dust pans, gloves, garbage bags and gratitude!

This event is weather permitting. If you have questions, contact me or call the BDC at 412-681-8800.

Sunday, November 21, 2010
9:00 AM – Noon (or as long as you can)

St. Joseph’s Church
4712 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Bloomfield Events Calendar

The Light Up A Life Program is sponsored by Forbes Hospice, and began in 1993. Friends and families can purchase a light or a string of lights in memory or honor of their loved ones. The lights will adorn the landscaping of the “Flag & Flower Island” in Bloomfield. Through your contribution of $5 per light or $50 per string of lights, your name and the name of your honoree will be inscribed in the Hospice Light Up A Life Book.

Sponsored this year in conjunction with the Bloomfield Development Corporation, there will be a “Light Up” Program on Friday, November 19 at 6:00 at the island at the intersection of Liberty Avenue, Howley Street and the Bloomfield  Bridge. The lights will be on until January 2, 2011.

Please join us in supporting this worthwhile cause. Enjoy dinner afterwards at any one of Bloomfield’s fabulous restaurants.

For more information, download a printable PDF brochure of their winter fundraising programs.

Friday, November 19, 2010
6:00 PM

Flag & Flower Island
Intersection of Liberty Avenue, Howley Street and the Bloomfield Bridge
Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Bloomfield Events Calendar

Last fall four film students came to Pittsburgh from L’Aquila, Italy, where their college was destroyed by an earthquake.  They began work on

a remarkable documentary about Italian-Americans in Pittsburgh, titled “Familiar and Strange”.  Bloomfield is very prominent in the film.

This fall two of the filmmakers returned to complete the film.  Happily, it was chosen as one of the opening night films of the 29th Three Rivers Film Festival, one starting, November 5.

To find out more visit: http://www.3rff.com/events.html

There’s a party afterwards, included in the $15 admission. It will be a very entertaining evening, of particular interest to generations of Italians here in Bloomfield.  The film is in Italian with English subtitles.

read more >> buy tickets from proartstickets.org >>

The System also booked a $70.7 million one-time non-cash asset impairment charge, related to West Penn Hospital and the Suburban Campus of Allegheny General Hospital, as well as $11.8 million of other restructuring costs. The impairment charge, required under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, reduces the carrying value of the hospitals’ buildings and equipment to estimated fair market value. Without these restructuring costs, the System’s operating loss for fiscal year 2010 would have been $7.4 million, while its net profit would have been $19.4 million.

“While we did incur some anticipated restructuring charges, it is important that we were able to move our organization forward operationally in fiscal 2010,” said Dr. Olivia. “We spent the last two years stabilizing the health system and improving our ability to generate cash flow from operations. At the same time, we developed strategic plans aimed at completely transforming our healthcare delivery model for the future. The stable cash position we developed in these past two fiscal years is enabling us to continue executing our plans in fiscal 2011.”

In June 2010, WPAHS announced plans to implement the remainder of its urban consolidation plan, which will eliminate duplicative inpatient services among its city hospitals. The System recently discontinued inpatient services at its Suburban Campus in Bellevue, and announced on Friday a focused mix of services for the Western Pennsylvania Hospital, which will become effective in January 2011.

“I believe we are moving forward at a remarkable pace,” said Dr. Olivia. “However, there is still much work to do and many challenges lie ahead. Though fiscal 2011 will be a difficult time of transition for us, we remain confident that we are on a course that will allow us to continue practicing medicine and improving the lives of the people of the Western Pennsylvania region.”