Stet NewsFor you today, hospitals see stars, prime Clematis Street space for rent, NextEra’s campaign cash, how to succeed in business by really trying and making summer go better with mangoes.
🤒 Is your hospital good for your health? Here’s what Medicare says
Surgical complications, vaccinated staff and death rates for 11 local hospitals swung wildly in Medicare’s latest quarterly assessment of care and money.
👑 The five-star crown for overall ratings proved elusive: Only Jupiter Medical Center received four. Bethesda Hospital got three. All others got two.
No hospital earned an across-the-board black eye.
Delray Medical Center had higher-than-average death rates for stroke patients, but it also had strong marks for fewer deaths among post-surgical patients.
Boca Raton Regional had higher complication rates tied to knee and hip surgeries, but one of the lowest rates for death among heart attack patients.
And high-ranking Jupiter and lower-ranking HCA Palms West both shared the same problem.
The percentage of pregnant mothers delivered 1-2 weeks early when a scheduled delivery was not medically necessary was more than double the national average.
Medicare also asked: How healthy is the staff?
💉 Flu can be a deadly complication. But only three hospitals reported the percentage of vaccinated staff topped the 80 percent national average.
At HCA-owned Palms West and JFK, fewer than two of every 10 staffers had flu shots.
Covid vaccination rates were more robust. Eight hospitals fell short of the 90 percent national average, but only one fell below 80 percent.
💵 Then there’s the matter of the bill.
Hip and knee replacement payments made by Medicare patients, or on their behalf, were anywhere from 4 percent to more than 20 percent above the national average.
And not just bones. Heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia care bills were frequently higher than national averages.
Yes but: Complications and costs aren’t just about the hospital.
One of every three PBC residents is 65 or over. Older patients may be more susceptible to complications requiring more extensive – and expensive – treatment.
Plus: There’s disagreement about whether the survey accurately captures the money and the medical outcomes.
But look for yourself! Key findings are here.
Want to know what the hospitals say? We did, too. A key Jupiter Medical executive was out of pocket; no others responded. If they do, we’ll let you know.
🥾 Deal approved to oust Photographic Centre
The Palm Beach Photographic Centre will exit the City Hall complex next year under a legal settlement approved Monday by West Palm Beach commissioners.
Driving the news: According to the mediation agreement, the Photo Centre would receive $1.09 million from the city and have 12 months to surrender its 30-year lease of a prime Clematis Street storefront. There are 15 years left on the $10-a-year contract.
The deal hinges on a release by Palm Beach County of $500,000 it granted to the center in 2008. At a CRA meeting earlier Monday, Photo Centre attorney Alan Rosenthal told commissioners he expected to hear from the county “any minute.”
State of play: Commissioners were cautious in their comments citing ongoing litigation with the center.
Mayor Keith James even sought guidance about whether market rate rent data could be shared with the audience.
He took the deputy city attorney’s advice not to present the slides until the settlement is complete.
“This lease was not entered into by anyone on this dais,” the mayor said. “Fifteen years is a long time. The city looked a lot different.”
Next steps: Commissioners expect to recoup the taxpayer money the city will pay the Photo Centre and more when the 26,000-square-foot property is leased again.
And no word yet on where the Photo Centre will wind up.
🇺🇸 For FPL’s parent, this year’s campaign bucks stop everywhere
Follow the money, they say, and so we did, tracing a burst of early-year political campaign contributions by Florida Power & Light’s corporate parent from its Juno Beach HQ to the steps of the Oklahoma legislature.
Oklahoma politicos netted approximately $62,400 in NextEra Energy campaign contributions the first five months of this year, more than candidates in any other state.
It was a slice of more than the $400,000 NextEra’s political action committee sent to state and federal candidates and state-based political action committees in 39 states since January.
National PACs and special interests headquartered in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland drew roughly $340,000.
The spending pattern, in true business fashion, seems less red vs. blue and more the color of money.
Consider Oklahoma sun. NextEra has been working to get a massive solar and battery project off the ground in Enid, Oklahoma.
Or wind. As of last year, NextEra had invested more than $5 billion in wind energy in the Sooner State, including more than a dozen wind farms. The Oklahoman reports it has three more on the drawing board.
Or both: The utility is all about putting the E for environment into its Environmental, Social and Governance policies, or ESG: A subsidiary is the largest wind and solar energy generator in the world.
Blasting ESG is an increasingly popular political target for campaigns here and nationally.
NextEra, though, has enjoyed immunity from the rhetoric, including from Florida lawmakers who signed off on a high-profile anti-ESG law this session while raising little – if any – criticism of NextEra’s green commitment.
Shares of NextEra (NYSE: NEE) closed down 11 cents at $73.96 Monday.
🍐 The juice
Fresh-squeezed news from all over
📚 President Joe Biden to appoint book ban czar. (CNN)
🌱 State cites Port St. Lucie resort after mangroves removed without permission. (WQSC)
🐴 Wellington equestrian board chooses horses over houses; recommends denial of plans for The Wellington North and South. (Wellington Mom)
🚊 Brightline buys land in Titusville and is building housing in Cocoa. (Talk of Titusville)
🏛️ U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon beat the odds to draw the new federal case against former President Donald Trump, reports the Florida Bulldog, which also flags a free 2021 trip. (Florida Bulldog)
📢 Bonus: Wayne Washington has details on the West Palm Beach city commission’s choice last week of City Harbor LLC to build a marina on the downtown waterfront with little time for the public to weigh in. (The Palm Beach Post)
👨🏼💼 Quiz: Succeeding in business by really, really trying
Palm Beach businessman Jeff Greene wasn’t always a billionaire. Long before he shrewdly bet against the housing market before its mid-2000s collapse, he worked to put himself through Harvard’s business school, Forbes reports.
How did he do it?
Busking in Key West
Selling circus tickets
Managing a telemarketing firm
🥭 561 insider: Hello, mangoes
As we anticipate the solstice next week, we’re still hacking summer here at 561 insider. And this week it’s a welcome to mango season.
Our weekend stop at Tropical Acres Farms evoked a visit to a friendly roadside stand in old Florida.
Backstory: The grove is run by Alex Salazar, who forged a partnership in 2011 with the Sturrock family. Their historic mango grove in the heart of West Palm Beach dates to the 1920s.
1010 Camellia Rd., West Palm Beach. Cash only.
🌳 Other mango sources to celebrate:
Hatcher Mango Hill is the home of the jumbo Hatcher mango, bred here in the 1940s with the goal to improve on the classic Haden.
1908 Hypoluxo Rd., Lantana. Check the Facebook page for mango availability and hours.Caribbean Plants and Produce offers mangoes from farmers and backyard trees. 13527 Okeechobee Blvd., Loxahatchee Groves; 561-225-1056.
🎉 Spady Cultural Heritage Museum invites you to join patrons in Delray Beach on Saturday evening for a Juneteenth musical celebration. Donna Singer and the 18-piece Diamond Jazz Orchestra will perform. Tickets: $50 single, $80 for a couple.
👨🏽 Happy Father’s Day this weekend to all the fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, uncles, brothers, cousins and friends who step up for a child.
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