KANSAS WOMEN DROP CONFERENCE OPENER AGAINST OKLAHOMA. 1D OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SANCTIONS RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS. PAGE 1B
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Bankruptcies filed in Kansas, U.S. nearing 10-year low By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
Amid all the news that employment and economic growth have been sluggish in Kansas this year, there is at least one piece of good news. It looks as though there will
be fewer personal bankruptcy filings in Kansas in 2016 than at any time in the last 10 years. Although final figures for 2016 aren’t yet available, federal court records show that in the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, there were
only 6,298 nonbusiness bankruptcy filings in Kansas. And if that pattern holds true for the January-December period, it would mark the smallest number of personal bankruptcies since 2006, well before the start of the Great Recession.
John Hooge, who has practiced bankruptcy law in Kansas for nearly 40 years, said he thinks the final numbers for Kansas will be lower than 2015, when there were 6,646 new filings. “The economy is better, interest rates have been low and
the real estate market has stabilized from so many foreclosures,” Hooge said. The trend in Kansas mirrors the national trend. Both in the state and nationally, nonbusiness bankruptcies began
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Regents review quake insurance coverage
LMH CEO: Partnerships, other changes possible
By Sara Shepherd sshepherd@ljworld.com
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We are in the enviable position of being able to be thoughtful about whatever we do.” — Lawrence Memorial Hospital CEO Russ Johnson
Kim Callahan/Journal-World Photo
John Young/Journal-World File Photo
Collaboration, new ways of delivering care are key, he says
A
s part of my effort to bring you more conversations with community leaders, I sat down recently with Russ Johnson, the relatively new president and CEO of Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Yes, I probably missed a golden opportunity because I did not ask him why the gowns are so drafty. Instead, I asked him about the hot breath of competition that LMH may be feeling more acutely these days. Johnson took over the hospital’s top spot in August after the retirement of longtime president and CEO Gene Meyer. By December, he had gotten a welcome present from neighbors to the east. As we have reported, officials with KU Hospital confirmed construction work is underway on a new orthopedic clinic along Wakarusa Drive. It will be KU
Town Talk
Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Hospital’s first expansion into the Lawrence market, and I opined at the time that may be a significant sign of things to come. Johnson agreed that KU Hospital’s decision to have a clinic in Lawrence is significant. It was not a development, however, that caught him by
surprise. Johnson said it is clear to him that partnerships, collaboration and scale are among the most important trends in the health care industry for today and tomorrow. None of those ideas are likely to discombobulate Johnson. Although he grew up in the Kansas City metro area, he comes to Lawrence after having served as an executive at Centura Health System in Englewood, Colo., a suburb of Denver. Centura operates 17 hospitals and has affiliation agreements with 12 other hospitals throughout Colorado and western Kansas. It is Colorado’s largest health care network and has more than 21,000 employees. “Centura was all about creating partnerships and scale,” Johnson told me. “That doesn’t really scare me.”
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City: Records requests in housing suit are ‘burdensome’ By Rochelle Valverde rvalverde@ljworld.com
Everything from diary entries to drug tests may come into play in a housing discrimination case related to a local veteran. The city claimed in November that landlords violated fair housing laws by refusing to rent to veteran Christopher Evans based
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part of their rebuttal. In addition to records related to Evans’ medical condition and the dog, the documents requested include diary entries from — David Brown, attorney representing the city in the lawsuit when Evans was in the army, employment applications since he was discharged and any drug test on his disability and his use of an have denied that such discrimi- results for the past five years. “emotional support dog.” nation occurred and are now re> REQUESTS, 2A Attorneys for the landlords questing a host of documents as
They request medical and military records that the city doesn’t have, and to force the city to go through the steps necessary to obtain those kinds of records is unduly burdensome.”
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In light of recent rumblings — literal rumblings — on some campuses, Kansas Board of Regents universities are taking another look at their earthquake insurance coverage. Leisa Julian, University of Kansas vice chancellor and chief financial officer, reported during this month’s Regents Council of Presidents meeting that she BOARD OF and other REGENTS university CFOs decided to review the earthquake insurance coverage “as a due diligence matter.” The Regents as a system purchased $1 billion worth of property insurance, with coverage of $100 million for the peril of earthquake, she said. Adding another $100 million in earthquake coverage would increase the premium payment by $44,000 a year, Julian said. The Regents already pay more than $2 million a year for property insurance coverage, she said. A risk-management analysis determined Kansas to be at low risk for earthquake damage, Julian said. She said most other Big 12 universities also have $100 million to $150 million in earthquake coverage — with the exception of the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University, which both carry $350 million in coverage.
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OBAMA’S
ESCAPE
Lawrence-based businessman hosts president in Hawaii. 1C