Joe Ronquillo, who has been treating pediatric patients with cancer at the hospital for 16 years, is a bit of a social media sensation thanks to posts of him dancing with his patients, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Idaho, New York, and Ohio.
- Idaho: A recent commercial for St. Luke's Children's Hospital features one of the hospital's pediatric nurses, Joe Ronquillo, and his dancing skills. Ronquillo, who has been treating pediatric patients with cancer at the hospital for 16 years, is a bit of a social media sensation thanks to posts of him dancing with his patients. "One parent will film a little video and then it will just spread around," Ronquillo said. "The greatest joy for me is … dancing for them here at the hospital. It's not just treating the disease it's treating the entire patient, so I think those are the moments that I cherish the most" (O'Mara, KTVB, 2/24).
- New York: New York is developing genetic tests for the coronavirus after CDC released faulty test kits last month. Public health labs in New York state and New York City have received FDA's permission to produce the genetic tests after an ingredient in CDC's coronavirus test kits slowed the United States' ability to test and confirm coronavirus diagnoses. CDC last week informed state officials that the error has been fixed and the agency is sending the new testing kits to state labs, including New York's (Pitofsky, The Hill, 2/28).
- Ohio: Grand Lake Health System, a nonprofit health system, is planning to soon break ground on a multimillion-dollar expansion project. The health system plans to build a single-story, 31,286-square-foot facility near its Joint Township District Memorial Hospital. The facility is expected to provide space for administrative physician offices and offer OB/GYN, primary care, and other services (Fisher, Dayton Business Journal, 2/21).