A massive stroke: to you, a tragedy; to us, a profit opportunity

For those of you still contending the American health care system isn't seriously whacked, check out the great story in this weeks Crain's Chicago Business: Hospitals' new case race: stroke patients. It seems hospitals are falling over themselves ramping up the cutthroat competition to grab a big piece of stroke care because, as Willie Sutton once said about banks, it's where the money is. "Average profits on a stroke case range from $2,800 to $4,000," reports Crain's. Mike Colias's report doesn't appear to be available on the web for non-subscribers, but it's well worth plunking down $3.50 for Crain's September 14th issue, not just for the stroke story, but for an account of City Hall's proposed $40 million bike path, Kraft's quest for Cadbury, and more.