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Dr. Kristine M. Powell, a pediatrician, joined St. Vincent Physician Network in Indianapolis. A graduate
of Indiana University in Bloomington and the IU School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Powell was most recently
a visiting professor at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital.

Dr. James
Perry has been elected president of the St. Francis Hospital-Mooresville medical staff for a
two-year term. He is the obstetrics medical director for St. Francis Hospital-Mooresville and is affiliated
with Southwest Women’s Health.

Kathleen Marrs, a biology professor, has been named associate
dean of academic affairs at the School of Science at IUPUI.

Roche Diagnostics Corp. named a new CEO Tuesday for its North American operations, which are headquartered
in Indianapolis. Jack Phillips, currently head of commercial operations for North America and Japan at Roche subsidiary Ventana
Medical Systems, takes the reins from Michael Tillmann, who resigned on Friday. Tillmann had been in the job 18 months, but
Roche continued to lose market share in its diabetes business. Phillips is the third North American CEO for Roche Diagnostics
in less than two years.

Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar requested Indiana’s attorney general to conduct
a legal analysis of the Senate health insurance proposal, according to the Associated Press. Attorney General Greg Zoeller
will examine the constitutionality of parts of the federal health care bill, including the so-called Nebraska compromise that
would give Nebraska funding for expanded Medicaid obligations. Indiana law gives the attorney general authority to review
proposed federal legislation for any of the state’s U.S. senators or representatives. Zoeller said he’ll provide a report
to Indiana’s congressional delegation by the time Congress starts House-Senate conference committee negotiations.

The long-term impact of health care reform is uncertain, but many analysts are expecting big health insurers like Indianapolis-based
WellPoint Inc. to benefit in 2010, according to the Associated Press. WellPoint, which insures more Americans
than any of its peers, has seen its stock price surge 10 percent in 2010. "As the health care reform
debate diminishes, we believe investors will continue their recent return to managed care stocks
in the first half of 2010 with a large-cap bias," Thomas Carroll, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus
& Co., told investors.

Witham Health Services wants Boone County officials
to support a $35 million bond issue that the Lebanon-based hospital said could save it millions in interest
payments. Witham wants to use about $21 million to refinance a 95,000-square-foot medical office building in Lebanon
that it opened in September. Interest rates on bonds are lower now than when Witham began that project in mid-2007. Witham
would use the rest of the money, about $15 million, to purchase land in the Anson development near Zionsville, on which Witham
opened a free-standing emergency room in October. The 43,000-square-foot structure features cutting-edge imaging equipment
for open-sided magnetic-resonance imaging exams and high-resolution CT scans. It also includes office space for family and
specialist physicians.

The City of Evansville hired Maryland-based Meritain Health to manage its self-funded insurance
plan. The new city health plan will feature the Welborn Health Plan’s Dual Option Product, which gives members access
to both Deaconess and St. Mary’s hospitals, instead of only one as before. Meritain Health administers health plans
for more than 80,000 members in the greater Evansville tri-state area.

Whew! A contract dispute that almost kicked seven central Indiana hospitals out of the network of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield was averted at the last minute last week. On Dec. 30, Anthem released a “News Flash” saying that its customers no longer would receive negotiated discounts at Hancock Regional, Hendricks Regional, Henry County, Morgan, Riverview, Westview and Witham hospitals, beginning the next day. The hospitals are part of Indianapolis-based Suburban Health Organization. But by 4 p.m. the same day, the two sides came to terms.

What Dow AgroSciences has done with corn, it’s now trying to do with cotton. The Indianapolis-based company has licensed genetically engineered cotton traits from Switzerland-based Syngenta AG. Dow Agro will combine Syngenta’s traits with cotton traits it developed. In 2012, Dow Agro expects to launch cotton seeds stacked with the traits to better protect against cotton pests. Dow Agro, a subsidiary of Michigan-based Dow Chemical Co., developed corn seed with eight genetically engineered traits following a licensing deal with St. Louis-based Monsanto Co. Dow Agro and Syngenta did not disclose financial terms of their deal.

St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers has sued three OrthoIndy physicians over the group’s new $20 million outpatient surgery center scheduled to open in Greenwood next year. The complaint alleges the new facility breaches an earlier partnership between the two health care providers. According to St. Francis’ civil complaint, filed Dec. 18 in Hamilton County Superior Court, St. Francis and an OrthoIndy affiliate agreed in 2001 to become equal partners in another facility—the Indiana Orthopaedic Surgery Center at 5255 E. Stop 11 Road on the St. Francis campus on the south side. But in December 2008, OrthoIndy announced it had purchased property four miles from the Indiana Orthopaedic Surgery Center and planned to construct a competing facility there. An attorney for the OrthoIndy physicians said St. Francis’ lawsuit has no merit.

When production at Tippecanoe Laboratories in Lafayette started today at 9:30 a.m., it officially launched a new era for the drugmaking plant. Germany-based Evonik Industries AG is now operating the plant after acquiring it from Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. Lilly sold the plant as part of $1 billion in operating cuts it wants to achieve by the end of 2011. Lilly signed a nine-year contract for Evonik to supply it with the materials made at the Lafayette plant. Gov. Mitch Daniels attended the start of production this morning.

Community Health Network’s philanthropic foundation received $1 million in cash from John W. “Jack” Heiney, a retired president and CEO of Evansville-based Indiana Gas Co. Heiney’s gift, made in honor of his late wife Betty, will be used to fund outreach, wellness and prevention programs, as well as improve Community’s facilities and employees.

Clarian North Medical Center named Damita Williams, a registered nurse, its chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services. She has been interim chief nursing officer since September. Williams joined Clarian North in 2005 as director of Riley Hospital North and Resource Center.

Dr. Andy Dillingham, has joined St. Vincent Physician Network in Carmel as a family medicine physician. Dillingham, a former pharmacist, earned a pharmacy degree from Butler University and a medical degree from Midwestern University’s Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine.