Around the nation: Philadelphia hospital separates 10-month-old conjoined twins

• Pennsylvania: After an 11-hour surgery, a team of about 30 medical professionals at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was able to separate Erin and Abby Delaney, a pair of 10-month-old twins who were joined at the head. According to the Associated Press, the hospital has separated 22 other pairs of conjoined twins over the past 60 years, but this surgery marked the first time Children's separated twins joined at the head, which is a particularly rare. Both twins will likely need additional surgery, AP reports, but they are recovering well—and, for the first time, sleeping in separate beds (AP/ABC News, 6/13).


• Tennessee: Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, has established the nation's first network of recovery ICUs for patients requiring post-intensive care, Alia Paavola reports for Becker's Hospital Review. According to Paavola, there are a few individual recovery ICUs located throughout the United States, but the clinics so far have worked relatively independently. The network, which will link 11 clinics in the United States and United Kingdom in its first year, aims to help the clinics collaborate on care and best practices (Paavola, Becker's Hospital Review, 6/13).


• Wyoming: Michele Chulick has been selected to serve as president and CEO at Wyoming Medical Center. Chulick, who has a background in nursing and administration, previously served as president of CHST Ventures, a division of Children's Health System of Texas. She will take over the position from Vickie Diamond, who is stepping down to retire (Vaidya, Becker's Hospital Review, 6/13).

What do consumers want from surgical care?

Surgical care is growing more competitive while the relative importance of differentiating factors is simultaneously shifting.

To win surgical business today, you need to understand what consumers expect from their care, what trade-offs they will make to protect their priorities, and how their willingness to travel impacts who you’re competing against. Here are 12 insights we discovered after asking nearly 2,500 consumers about their surgical care preferences.