Friday,  May 16, 2014 • Vol. 16--No. 302 • 25 of 31

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Hospitals compete for affluent immigrants with premium menus, revamped rooms, other extras

• HOUSTON (AP) -- The menu includes pork or chicken dumplings, fried rice or chicken congee soup with jasmine rice and ginger. It's an enviable repast that diners take in bed -- hospital beds.
• When it comes to ordering meals at Houston's Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, immigrant patients can choose from dishes similar to what they might eat at home: dumplings or noodles for Asian palates, curry to accommodate Indian tastes.
• These and other choices at medical facilities nationwide reflect intense competition to attract one of health care's most desirable demographics -- affluent, foreign-born patients with generous insurance coverage or cash to pay out of pocket.
• The menu is just part of the outreach. The Houston hospital also has redecorated patient rooms, subscribed to foreign-language TV channels and even changed the color of hospital paperwork to reflect cultural preferences.
• Hospitals "are recognizing that they have to begin to gear their services and products toward more minority populations," said Rick DeFilippi, chairman of the board for the Institute for Diversity in Health Management, a subsidiary of the American Hospital Association.
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Family of inmate who died after hunger strike relives pain of estrangement, his life's spiral

• LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Hope Keown was reading the newspaper in her kitchen when she noticed a face she hadn't seen in years. Staring up from the page was her estranged stepfather's mug shot, next to a story about how he starved himself to death in a Kentucky prison.
• The story triggered tears, confusion and a torrent of memories about James Kenneth Embry, the man she knew as "Kenny" and "Spider Red." She recalled the good times, such as when a sober Embry helped with homework and folded laundry. But there were also the drugs, alcohol and disappearances that lasted for days or weeks until he finally drifted away for good.
• When The Associated Press exposed that Embry had died after a five-week hunger strike, prison officials said no family had visited him in prison or claimed his re

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