Recently, the definition of required preventive services for women to be included in every health plan was released. Some of this was exceptionally good news.

With the recent national debate over health reform as a catalyst, Catholic health care organizations across the U.S. have stepped up their corporate activism and advocacy to influence big businesses to become better citizens.

Marian University in Indiana expects to open a new medical school in 2013, making it just the fifth Catholic medical school in the nation, and the first Catholic college for osteopathic physicians.

The challenge is the high risk of falling by patients in the medical-surgical unit. The goal is to find practical ways for a busy hospital staff to keep the patients on their feet.

Providence Holy Cross Medical Center of Mission Hills, Calif., has completed a $180 million wing addition that will increase the hospital's capacity to 377 beds, from 254. The hospital opened the new wing July 13.

With their mission to provide holistic care, ministry facilities want to ensure they are meeting patients' spiritual needs at the end of life, but this can be a challenge for caregivers working with an increasingly diverse patient mix.

Mercy system is wrapping up a year of systemwide information-gathering and planning sessions and is announcing its resulting capital investment plans for the next decade. Among the communities slated for large-scale Mercy investment is tornado-ravaged Joplin, Mo.

One hospital within the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System has completed construction of a replacement hospital, and another FMOL campus has launched an expansion.

In the past 25 years, it has become commonplace to support the grieving with bereavement services that typically include individual counseling, group therapy, classes and workshops.