St. Joseph in Bellingham ranks high among nation's hospitals

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• Website ranks St. Joseph in Bellingham among best in emergency care

  Website ranks St. Joseph in Bellingham among best in emergency care

  For the second time this year, an online health care ratings company recognized PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center for being among the top providers in the United States.

  HealthGrades.com announced last week that St. Joseph is among the top 5 percent of hospitals in emergency care. The company surveyed millions of patient records at 4,783 hospitals from 2008 to 2010, tracking in-hospital deaths following 12 common emergencies, including heart attack, stroke and pneumonia.

  HealthGrades last month ranked St. Joseph among the top 5 percent of hospitals nationally, based on mortality and complication rates for 26 procedures and diagnoses.

• Skeleton of St. Joseph Medical Center campus addition nears completion

  Skeleton of St. Joseph Medical Center campus addition nears completion

  The skeleton of the new addition to Tacoma’s St. Joseph Medical Center campus is nearing completion this week.

• Report: Whatcom ranks 5th among state's healthiest counties

  Report: Whatcom ranks 5th among state's healthiest counties

  A new report ranking the healthiness of Washington state makes Whatcom County look better than other communities, but a researcher for the report being released Tuesday says no matter which county you live in, you're probably healthier than residents of many other states.

  "Overall, it seems like Washington ... has created a really incredible culture of health," said Angela Russell, an associate researcher at the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

  Washington's healthiest counties - San Juan, Kittitas, Island, Whitman and Whatcom - are consistently better than the national average on measurements like smoking, teen births and premature death.

• Tax changes good for area medical facilities, bad for governments

  Tax changes good for area medical facilities, bad for governments

  Just when local governments thought that the erosion of property tax valuations had bottomed out, a years-long legal and lobbying effort by the hospital industry is further shrinking taxable values in the South Sound and across the state.

• St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham bars visitors with whooping cough symptoms

  St. Joseph hospital in Bellingham bars visitors with whooping cough symptoms

  BELLINGHAM - People showing symptoms of whooping cough are not allowed in the pediatric unit or childbirth center at St. Joseph hospital for as long as the disease is spreading at an epidemic level, officials said Friday, May 18.

  People are advised stay away from all parts of the hospital if they have symptoms of the disease, also known as pertussis, or have been in contact with people who are infected.

  Visitors who have a runny nose or persistent cough may be asked to leave the hospital, according to a statement from St. Joseph.