Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville is considering an affiliation with the UNC Health Care system to gain expertise that will help the hospital better meet the county’s needs. UNC Health Care, a not-for-profit integrated health care system owned by the state, agreed to talk to Pardee’s board after recently meeting with Henderson County commissioners and N.C. Senator Tom Apodaca.
Henderson County Manager Steve Wyatt said the potential partnership between UNC Health Care and Pardee could be “one of the best things that’s happened to our community.” Wyatt said the county already has two “great assets” with Pardee and Park Ridge Health, but the UNC Health Care affiliation would elevate the level of health care in the county.
County officials praised the reputation of UNC Health Care, which is associated with the nationally renowned UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine. The N.C. General Assembly formed UNC Health Care in 1989 to oversee the hospitals of UNC-Chapel Hill. UNC Hospitals includes North Carolina Children’s Hospital, North Carolina Memorial Hospital, North Carolina Cancer Hospital, North Carolina Neurosciences Hospital and North Carolina Women’s Hospital. UNC Health Care also has partnerships with Rex Healthcare in Raleigh and Chatham Hospital in Siler City, which it purchased in 2008.
Pardee and county officials emphasized they have no intention of selling the hospital to UNC Health Care at this time. Bill Lapsley, chairman of the Pardee board, said Pardee hopes to gain support that would improve delivery of medical services and improve health care education programs. Pardee also said it could see some cost savings as a result of the collaboration.
Lapsley said a partnership with UNC Health Care would not stop progress on a joint project between Pardee and Mission Hospital. He said UNC Health leaders said Pardee and Mission could continue moving ahead with their plan for a joint outpatient facility on the border between Henderson and Buncombe counties.
Karen McCall, vice president of public affairs and marketing for UNC Health, said UNC Health would work to ensure that the best service and access is provided to residents of Henderson County and the surrounding area. Pardee, licensed for 222 acute care beds, has 238 physicians and dentists and employs 1,200 people. Pardee currently has an interim CEO following the resignation of former CEO Kris Hoce in November. Lapsley said it’s possible Pardee’s next CEO could come from UNC Health Care if the hospital and UNC Health approve a partnership.
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After eliminating earlier this year several, required end-of-course exams for high school students, North Carolina legislators are considering new standardized tests to replace them. The N.C. House Education Committee approved this week legislation that would require 11th graders to take the ACT national college entrance exam starting in the 2011-2012 school year. North Carolina students also would take pretests in eighth and 10th grades to check the progress of students and help teachers adjust instruction to meet students’ needs.
The N.C. General Assembly agreed in March to eliminate the tests in U.S. history, civics and economics, algebra 2 and physical science.
N.C. Rep. Tricia Cotham, a sponsor of the bill to use the ACT, said the ACT is considered the best national test for measuring academic performance, partly because it tests knowledge on specific subject matter rather than general aptitude.
“It’s not teaching to the test,” said Cotham. “This is a more formative test so that you can use feedback to drive instruction.”
The State Board of Education has expressed its support for the legislation to use the ACT. The switch to the ACT is part of a “Common Core Standards” plan approved last year by the State Board of Education to tests students with nationally recognized exams rather than state-administered exams.
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The man who introduced kindergarten in North Carolina and helped lead the state’s school system through desegregation passed away this week at the age of 88. Craig Phillips served as the state superintendent of education for 20 years before he retired in 1989. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill, Phillips began his career in education as a teacher in Winston-Salem in the 1950s. He later became the city’s superintendent. Phillips, who also served as a Navy officer during World War II and was part of the fleet that landed in Normandy, died peacefully at a hospice in Wilmington.
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North Carolina legislators are considering a bill to reform the state’s criminal justice system with more intense supervision and treatment for inmates released from prison. State statistics show approximately 50 percent of people sent to prison in North Carolina are repeat offenders. However, most of those people were arrested for probation violations rather than new crimes.
State legislators said investing in better supervision could save the state money by keeping many people from returning to prison. N.C. Rep. David Guice (R-Brevard), a retired chief probation officer, is one of the primary sponsors for the legislation, which he said “is probably the biggest reform package we have taken on in years.”
The Justice Reinvestment Act was drafted following a year-long study by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, the Pew Center, and the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance.
According to the study, about 85 percent of inmates currently are released from the state’s prisons without any active supervision, while most of the state’s probation resources are spent supervising people convicted of misdemeanors and low-level felonies.
The study concluded better use of probation resources could slow the growth of the state’s prison population. Even while crime rates fell during the last decade, the state’s prison population grew by about 30 percent to more than 41,000. If that rate of growth is not curbed, the state estimates it will have to spend at least $267 million by 2017 to build and run new prisons.
The Justice Reinvestment Act would require mandatory supervision for all felons and longer prison sentences for repeat breaking-and-entering offenders. The bill also would provide more funding for substance abuse treatment and other resources to help people released from prison become productive members of the community. A budget proposed by Republicans in the N.C. House, estimates that the bill would save $25.5 million through prison closings and state job cuts over the next years.
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The Battle of Burnsville, a living history event to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, will be held on Saturday in Burnsville. The event, which is free to the public, will commemorate the Battle of Burnsville on the grounds of the McElroy House. The event is sponsored by the Yancey History Association and will feature exhibits of soldiers’ camp life, veterans’ pictures, letters and personal items from the 1860s, craft demonstrations and entertainment.
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A solemn ceremony at around 4 a.m. Tuesday in Charleston, S.C., recreated the bombardment of Fort Sumter, the battle that marked the beginning of the Civil War on April 12, 1861. A single beam of light faced skyward from Fort Sumter at around 4 a.m. At around 4:30 a.m., the time the first shots were fired in 1861, the light was split into two beams to signify a divided nation.
The Fort Sumter ceremony Tuesday launched a four-year national commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
The bloodiest war in the nation’s history resulted in more than 600,000 deaths, although no one died in the initial battle at Fort Sumter. Union troops surrendered the fort after 36 hours of shelling by Confederate troops. Tuesday’s ceremony also included a 25-minute program of hymns and cannon firing beginning around daylight.
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A federal district court ruled that Spartanburg School District 7 can continue offering credit for elective classes at an off-campus Bible education program. Robert Moss and Ellen Tillett, along with the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation, filed a lawsuit against the district in 2009, claiming the course is unconstitutional because it violates the separation of church and state. The elective class has been provided since 2007 by Spartanburg County Bible Education in School Time at a church next door to Spartanburg High School. State law allows elective credit for released-time religion classes as long as evaluations are based on secular criteria and public funds are not used.
The plaintiffs said District 7’s elective course in religion is insensitive and discriminatory, isolating students who do not follow the majority religion.
The plaintiffs said they plan to appeal the ruling of the judge, who concluded District 7’s released time policy does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
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Spartanburg City Council voted to make the Beaumont Mill village a designated historic district.
Council previously rejected the neighborhood association’s initial request for the historic designation, but residents worked to get council to reconsider.
The neighborhood, one of the largest intact mill villages in South Carolina, follows Hampton Heights as the second locally designated historic district. The Beaumont Mill village district includes 317 properties. The designation requires homeowners to obtain approval from the city’s Board of Architectural Design and Historic Review before proceeding with any major renovations. Some residents also can receive grant funds for renovations.
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Nationally known forager Alan Muskat will lead a “lookin n’ cookin’ morel mushroom adventure” on April 17 near Candler. The program, hosted by the Western North Carolina Alliance, will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The hunt for mushrooms will be held in the woods near Candler and a gathering with wine, hors d’oeuvres and cooked mushrooms will be held at the home of artist Rob Seven after the hunt. For more information, visit www.wnca.org.
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Art Schumacher of North Raleigh recently surprised his wife on their 49th wedding anniversary with $17,885 in cash. He asked his wife, Jeanette, to close her eyes before he delivered the stacks of money, representing $1 for every day they have been married. Schumacher said he had to go to three banks over the course of a day to get enough $1 bills for the gift.
“You’re my sweetheart, honey. No doubt about that,” said Art, who has defied doctors’ predictions that he would not live past 70 because of cancer in his face and neck.
“Do I have to take it back?” Jeanette asked after sifting through the stacks of money.
Art and Jeanette married while Art was on furlough from the Army in Germany. For their honeymoon, they drove to his aunt’s ranch in Great Falls, Mont. They had dinner in Huron, S.C., and ate in the bowling alley because they were told it was the best restaurant in town.
Over the years they’ve lived in several different places across the country, following Art’s career in retail management with Montgomery Ward and Wal-Mart. Art and Jeannette drive their grandchildren home from school each day and Art recently played in a golf tournament and won.