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Vote sets up big switch for Standard: Company awaits insurance department’s approval of sale

With two key shareholder votes in his favor, Standard Management Corp. Chairman and CEO Ron Hunter made major strides last week in remaking the Indianapolis holding company. Common-stock shareholders overwhelmingly approved the sale of Standard Life Insurance Co. and Dixie National Life Insurance Co. to Louisville-based Capital Assurance Corp. May 18. Later that day, the company announced most of the holders of its trust-preferred securities agreed to a plan that preserves more than $20 million in cash for Standard in…

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TOM HARTON Commentary: The twins that hold us back

Stubbornness and stupidity are twins. I’ve remembered that notion from Sophocles ever since a high school friend said it to a teacher as they argued about the way she’d scored his test. He lost that fight, but went on to become a successful lawyer. I don’t know what happened to the teacher, but I’m reminded of the phrase as I observe the decisions made by our elected representatives. Two examples come to mind, one recent and the other long ago….

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STATEHOUSE DISPATCH: With session behind him, Daniels readying for next one

At the beginning of the session, Gov. Mitch Daniels told Hoosiers to fasten their seat belts. We told you to expect the session to follow Mario Andretti’s philosophy: “If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.” The session began like a heat at the U.S. Nationals drag races in Clermont-quickly out of the blocks. Things seemed to bog down midway, reminding us of the Brickyard 400. The finish held form, however, with the governor downing the legislative…

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Twilight fund fades away: Meanwhile, six BioCrossroads-backed VCs are just getting started

Its specialty is developing local life sciences startups. But its partners can’t raise any more money. So the sun is setting on Twilight Venture Partners. Meanwhile, the six venture capital firms BioCrossroads staked with its $73 million Indiana Future Fund have just three local investments to show among them. Venture investments take time, the six IFF recipients argue. And their first duty is to earn the high rate of return the IFF’s organizers demand. That means significant proof of concept…

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CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary: Giving credit where credit’s due

CHRIS KATTERJOHN Commentary Giving credit where credit’s due Over the last 25 years, one of the ways we’ve tried to give back to the business community that supports us is to recognize the people and companies who’ve made a difference. These programs have given us the opportunity to celebrate honorees and their accomplishments both in our pages and at public events. Each in their own way, the programs have been not only gratifying but, well, fun. I’d like to take…

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Health builders thinking small: Local hospital development in for change

Just north of Indianapolis, Clarian Health Partners plans to open a 170-bed hospital this December, a suburban complement to the 76-bed hospital it opened last December in Avon. To the south, St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers unveiled a heart center in March, counterbalancing the two stand-alone heart hospitals that sprang up on the north side a few years ago. These projects offer a snapshot of how health care development has progressed over the past few years in central Indiana….

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Union puts Harborside Healthcare on defensive: Publicity campaign highlights problems at local homes

Feces in the shower. Pressure sores. Dead worms in the corner of one building. “Be careful who you trust with nursing home care,” shout four billboards placed recently around Indianapolis by a union that wants to warn people about problems like chronic understaffing at Harborside Healthcare nursing homes. Nonsense, counter Boston-based Harborside managers. They claim the union is using isolated events to “extort” more pay and benefits from Harborside and expand union membership. Either way, Indianapolis appears to be the…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Going behind the numbers to understand price indexes

The joke about economists is that we talk about money but we don’t have any. And when it comes to having power and wealth, the status of those who compile the economic statistics we all consume is usually several notches below even that of the lowly economist. Most are employed by government agencies, after all. And the last time I checked, I didn’t see anyone from the Forbes 100 list on a public payroll. But the numbers these anonymous statisticians…

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Pondering the world from an economist’s viewpoint

In case you’ve ever wondered what it is like to look at life through the eyes of an economist, here are some questions to ponder: Has anyone else noticed that public schools these days are in the transportation business, the sports entertainment business, the restaurant business, the health care business, not to mention the day care business? It’s no wonder their jobs are so difficult. To those who decry the risk of diverting Social Security revenue towards personal accounts in…

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VIEWPOINT: We need Social Security as a safety net

The proposed use of personal savings accounts for Social Security tax investment fundamentally changes what Social Security was meant to provide. It was meant to be a minimum guaranteed platform of financial security in old age. If everyone could and would save a material amount of their lifetime earnings, investing in a disciplined diversified manner, we wouldn’t need Social Security. But the reality is, that’s never going to happen. The poor, non-earners and the profligate simply aren’t up to the…

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As market correction plays out, good buys remain INVESTING Keenan Hauke:

It’s week five of the correction that began in early March. Major market indexes have declined anywhere from 3 percent to 8 percent, and the selling may not be over. Does it matter? Is this simply another minor setback on the march to new highs? It definitely matters. As I’ve said since January, the bull market that began in March 2003 has now changed so that you can’t depend on the broad rising tide to bail you out. Micro-cap-size companies…

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Navigating a painful journey: St. Vincent Pediatric Hospice helps families cope

Erin Sammons knew nothing about St. Vincent Pediatric Hospice when she gave birth to her son, Hart, last November. She just knew that Hart had a chromosome disorder, and doctors expected his life to last only minutes or maybe days. The hospice offered help, so she took it. Hart lived for almost a month, and Sammons said the hospice staff walked her family through every step of that journey. “It was a tragedy, and my heart breaks every day ……

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Legislators take moratorium on serious moratorium talk: Effort to curb health care construction much quieter

The push to corral health care construction in Indiana returned to the General Assembly with a lower dose of momentum this year. Several bills regulating development in one fashion or another made appearances during the session, but no major initiatives will make it out of the Statehouse, according to advocates on both sides of the issue. Prospects for another push to install a certificate-of-need law or a moratorium next year also appear hazy for now, say legislators who pitched bills…

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Wellness provider expands: Summex Health planning bigger HQ on NW side

A leading provider of wellness programs for large companies will triple its office space in June to meet demand from employers eager to save on soaring health care costs. Indianapolis-based Summex Health Management Inc. and its 55 employees will vacate 10,000 square feet of office space in The Morley Group building on the northwest side and take up residence in roomier digs in nearby Woodland Corporate Park. The Duke Realty Corp. property provides Summex nearly 30,000 square feet, or the…

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Hendricks Regional Health out to make name for itself: Hospital on promotional push in fast-growing county Growth spurs advertising

When the former Hendricks Community Hospital underwent a name change in 2003, executives embarked on an ambitious advertising campaign to promote the new moniker. Two years later, the modified Hendricks Regional Health has yet to abandon its marketing blitz, although the message has changed. The hospital is wrapping up a year-long promotional push, mainly to alert newcomers to fast-growing Hendricks County of the center’s existence, and will launch a follow-up campaign in the summer. Its efforts to muster additional name…

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Health leader likes hands-on approach: Monroe brings vast background of medical service to state commissioner’s role

Dr. Judith Monroe’s appointment as commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health returns her to the early days of a practice steeped in public health. This time, though, the Carmel resident won’t be treating patients living in tree houses. That’s right, tree houses. The 52-year-old Dayton, Ohio, native began her medical career in Morgan County, Tenn., in the heart of Appalachia on the eastern edge of the Cumberland Plateau. Through a National Health Service Corps program, Monroe spent four…

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Tough losses hit Powerway: Software firm cuts workers, CEO resigns after General Motors terminates contract

Its software was supposed to become the American auto industry’s standard. Instead, Powerway Inc. finds itself scrambling once again to recover from a sudden reversal of fortune. Detroit-based General Motors Corp. has terminated its 2-1/2-year-old agreement to implement Powerway’s quality-control software throughout its supply chain. As a result, Powerway’s CEO Theodore Wozniak has stepped down and the company has fired a quarter of its work force. “It’s frustrating and disappointing that, under such great financial pressure, the American-based manufacturers are…

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CPA firm hopes to deduct waistlines: KSM promotes wellness with weight-loss contest

Katz Sapper & Miller LLP is putting its money where its employees’ mouths are, helping its work force stay fit and healthy during the hectic tax season. In an industry where numbers are king, the local accounting firm is tabulating pounds, inches and cholesterol levels along with deductions, capital gains and tax credits. Some 58 KSM employees are participating in a weight-loss competition from Jan. 15 to April 15. As procrastinating Americans are rushing their tax returns to mailboxes, KSM…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: What Hoosiers should know about advance directives

While people had sharply divided opions about the Terri Schiavo case, most could agree on one point: It’s a good idea to make sure your wishes about life-prolonging treatments are clearly known. Indiana residents can sign “advance directives” in order to confirm their wishes about life-prolonging treatment and to authorize others to make decisions and give consents on their behalf. Indiana law offers three main types of advance directive: the Living Will, the Health Care Representative Appointment, and the health…

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Wishard aims to even it up: Health system could break deficit string

About half the bills Wishard Health Services used to send out came back sans payment thanks to an error. Now that happens only 4 percent of the time, a change that saves millions, according to Wishard number-crunchers. Improvements such as these might spur a multimillion-dollar turnaround in Wishard’s ledger this year, said Matt Gutwein, the leader of Marion County’s safetynet hospital. Wishard will attempt to break even by the end of 2005, a far cry from the $77 million deficit…

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