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The next phase of University Hospital’s $40-million renovation is complete. The women’s health center will officially open next week, but Friday was an open house for hospital employees. Doctors say the clinic covers the whole spectrum of women’s care. And the internal medicine and bone density areas are nearby. Doctors call it one stop shopping. The head of the OB/GYN department, Dr. Jennifer Niebyl said, “There were two different floors for our department and mammograms are hear and bone density was in another building and now it’s all in one women’s health center.”

The women’s health center is in the Pomerantz

A senior official in the Tsu Municipal Government’s weight-loss promotion program died earlier this week while exercising, police said Friday.

The 47-year-old man, who worked in the health and welfare section, was found dead on a road near his home Tuesday morning dressed in a T-shirt and gym shorts. He is believed to have suffered heart failure while jogging or walking, police said.

He was taking the day off.

The man, whose name is being withheld, was one of the seven senior officials taking part in the program, which was proposed by Mayor Takao Morishita, 57, who is also participating.

The program involves nurses who advise the seven officials and the mayor about dieting and exercise. The seven officials planned to announce their weight-loss achievements to residents in October.

The program was launched under the mayor’s initiative to prevent lifestyle-caused illnesses. The seven were chosen because they were suspected of suffering from the so-called metabolic syndrome, which counts high blood pressure, blood sugar count and triglycerides among its symptoms.

The late official had a waistline of about 100 cm that he intended to trim to 90 cm. But he was also warned that excessive exercise could be detrimental to his health, city sources said.

“This is a very sad loss,” said Sachio Nakakita, chief of Tsu’s health and welfare section. “But we do not see a causal link between his death and his efforts to lose weight. It is still good for health to control weight through exercise.”

The city plans to go ahead with the project — dubbed Seven Metabo-Samurais Attacking Their Visceral Fat — and publicize the achievements of the remaining members on Oct. 10

A senior official of Tsu, Mie Prefecture, who was involved in the city’s weight-loss program, died earlier this week while exercising, police said Friday. The 47-year-old official was found dead on a road near his home on Tuesday morning clad in T-shirt and gym shorts. He is believed to have suffered heart failure while jogging or walking, police said. The man was one of the seven senior city officials taking part in the weight-loss program proposed by Mayor Takao Morishita. Morishita, 57, is also participating. Under the program, the seven officials and mayor have been receiving advice on diet and exercise from nurses, and planned to announce their weight-loss achievements to the city residents in October. With a waistline of about 100 centimeters, the late official intended to slim down by 10 centimeters, but was warned that excessive exercise could be detrimental to his health, according to the local government

Increasingly, American consumers are shopping for health care the way they buy a hamburger or milk shake at a fast-food chain: By standing in line at a local store under a menu.

Store-based health clinics [–] staffed mostly by nurse practitioners and offering quick services for routine conditions from colds and bladder infections to sunburn [–] aren’t just a health care fad anymore.

About 7 percent of Americans have tried a clinic at least once, according to an estimate by the Convenient Care Association, an industry trade group formed last year. That number is expected to increase dramatically, as major pharmacy operators like Wal-Mart Stores Inc., CVS Corp., Target Corp. and Walgreen Co. partner with miniclinic providers like RediClinic and MinuteClinic to expand operations. The trade group estimated there will be 2,000 by the end of 2008, up from more than 400 now.

With the nation’s $2 trillion health care system in need of repair, such an express approach to health care [–] which offers a wait time averaging about 15 minutes and evening and weekend hours [–] is being heralded as serving up a cheaper and quicker alternative than a doctor’s office or an emergency room. A physical exam costs on average $60, while a flu shot typically costs about $20.

“I was frankly very impressed with how thorough (the examination) was,” said Susan Anthony, who visited a clinic at a Target in Phoenix, Md., for a dry cough. “And it was fast. I walked in at 10:30 a.m. and was in my car a little after 11:00 a.m.”

The American Medical Association said a growing number of medical practices are extending their office hours or forming their own clinics to compete.

The ventures are promising enough that big-shot investors are jumping into the game. RediClinic got an undisclosed cash infusion from Revolution LLC, the investment house launched by AOL founder Steve Case.

Support among health insurance companies is also growing; about 40 percent to 50 percent of clinics accept insurance from providers like Humana Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Aetna Inc., according to CCA.

But concerns are rising in the medical industry that these operations remain largely unregulated and are prone to conflicts of interest.

In June, the American Medical Association urged state and federal agencies to look into whether pharmacy chain-owned clinics urge patients to get their prescriptions filled on site. That followed buyouts of miniclinics by two big-name pharmacy operators: Walgreen bought Conshohocken, Pa.-based Take Care Health Systems in June, and CVS acquired Minneapolis-based MinuteClinic last year.

Dr. Peter Carmel, a trustee on the AMA board, said “the path of abuse is wide open.”

Store-based health clinics are held to the same high standards as doctors’ offices, said Tine Hansen-Turten, executive director of the Convenient Care Association. She pointed out store clinics are either monitored by a state board of nursing or board of medicine, and sometimes by both.

AMA also wants to ban the practice of health insurance companies waiving or lowering co-payments for clinic patients.

Dr. David Plocher, the senior medical officer at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, said that “the normal market forces should determine such things.” His company has reduced or waived co-payments for 25 member companies who use MinuteClinics and several other store-based clinics.

The Health Association of Niagara County Inc. is accepting nominations for the Karen Albond Courage in Caring Award, given annually to an individual who perseveres in serving others despite physical or developmental disabilities.Nominees must live, work or volunteer in Niagara County and be 18 or older.

The award is named for a longtime HANCI board member who died in 2003. A panel of HANCI staff and volunteers, including representatives of the Albond family, will select the winner. The award will be presented this fall.