St. Elizabeth Healthcare has been denied Kentucky approval to open an advanced neonatal intensive care unit.

The hospital system applied in 2009 for the Level III NICU designation. But it failed to convince the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services the Kentucky needs the 12-bed service.

A spokeswoman for the organization said St. Elizabeth is likely to appeal the decision.

St. Elizabeth hoped to lure back the 990 Northern Kentucky women who leave the state to have their babies at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center or elsewhere…

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Gilead Sciences Inc.’s stock rose 0.16 percent to close at $49.31 per share on Thursday, but was trading more than 1 percent down after hours.

The Foster City-based biopharmaceutical company (NASDAQ:GILD) reported net income for the fourth quarter of 2011 of $665.1 million, or 87 cents per diluted share, compared to $629.4 million, or 76 cents per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2010.

The company said fourth quarter revenue increased 10 percent to $2.20 billion, from $2 billion for the fourth quarter of 2010…

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Affymax Inc. said Thursday it has promoted Cynthia Smith to vice president, market access and commercial development.

Smith has been with the Palo Alto-based biopharmaceutical company (NASDAQ:AFFY) since 2008 as executive director, public policy, payer strategy, and operations.

“Cynthia has made significant contributions to Affymax over the last three years, helping to build and provide leadership to Affymax’s commercial organization, particularly as it relates to reimbursement and payer strategy,” said Jeffrey Knapp, chief commercial officer of Affymax in a prepared statement…

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D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray has tapped Elaine Crider, an independent project management consultant from Ward 8, to join the United Medical Center board of directors. He has also asked Virgil McDonald to remain on the board for another term.

D.C. Council must approve both appointments, which would run through 2014.

If confirmed, Crider will replace Robin-Eve Jasper, the former director of the D.C. Department of Real Estate Services, who was first appointed to the board by then-Mayor Adrian Fenty shortly after the District seized the hospital in 2010…

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Washington-based health care research and advisory firm The Advisory Board Co. saw earnings nearly double last quarter on higher sales and an increase in contract values.

The company’s fiscal 2012 third quarter net income was $8.1 million, or 46 cents per share, compared to net income of $3.9 million, or 24 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue rose 33 percent to $100 million.

The Advisory Board says contract value at the end of the quarter was $386.6 million, up nearly 29 percent from a year earlier…

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Louisville-based hospital operator Merit Health Systems LLC is selling off its current hospital portfolio in separate deals it describes as “successful monetization” of its hospital investments.

Merit, which is led local hospital veteran Ty Wilburn, already completed the sale of San Antonio, Texas-based Nix Health Care System and has an agreement to sell its New Jersey Hospital.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

According to a news release from Merit, Nix was sold to Prospect Medical Holdings Inc…

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Longtime Geron Corp. employee David Greenwood, who served as interim CEO for seven months last year, received a lump sum severance payment of $750,000 and a two- to five-month consulting deal that will pay him $400 an hour.

Greenwood, who had been with Geron (NASDAQ: GERN) in various jobs since 1995, left the Menlo Park-based drug development company at the end of last year. He was appointed interim CEO on the departure of Thomas Okarma in February 2011.

Geron hired Chip Scarlett as CEO in September and Greenwood became president and chief financial officer…

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With health care reform evolving and as hospital organizations and physician groups team up to cope with it, Swedish Health Services and Providence Health & Services today announced that they have completed their planned affiliation.

“We want to lead, not follow,” said Swedish CEO Dr. Rod Hochman about the big changes afoot in the nation’s health care industry.

“Our coming together is unique, special, and it puts us out in front of the curve.”

The affiliation is led by a 19-member board, with five members from Swedish and 14 from Providence…

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If you want to know if you’re at risk of premature cardiovascular disease, take a look at your children.

Children with high triglyceride levels at age 12 are more likely than those with normal levels to have heart attacks and strokes by the age of 38, according to a study by Dr. Charles Glueck of Jewish Hospital and Dr. John Morrison of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

“When we identify children with these risk factors early, we can start the children on primary prevention programs to can help reduce their chances of suffering heart attacks and strokes and developing type 2 diabetes later in life,” Glueck said…

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A federal judge has blocked California’s attempt to cut Medi-Cal rates to doctors, dentists, pharmacists and other Medi-Cal providers by 10 percent.

U.S. District Court Judge Christina Snyder granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday that prohibits the state from implementing the cut, which is part of a budget fix adopted by the California Legislature last March.

In twin rulings in December, the same judge tossed California’s 10 percent cuts in Medi-Cal fees to pharmacies and skilled nursing units inside hospitals…

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