CVS Caremark names chief medical officer

Woonsocket-based CVS Caremark Corp. yesterday appointed Dr. Troyen A. Brennan as executive vice president and chief medical officer. In this newly created role, he will assume responsibility for the company’s MinuteClinic, Accordant Health Care, clinical and medical affairs, as well as health-care strategy. Brennan had been chief medical officer for Aetna Inc., the nation’s third-largest health insurer, where he was responsible for clinical operations, national quality management, disease management and other programs. Prior to Aetna, Brennan was president and chief executive officer of Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization in Boston and was director of quality measurement and improvement there. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. Brennan has a bachelor of science from Southern Methodist University in Texas, a doctor of medicine and a master of public health from Yale Medical School, a juris doctor from Yale Law School and a master’s degree from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He has served on the faculties of Harvard Medical School, Harvard Law School and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Brown, Banco Santander launch institutes

Brown University, in Providence, and Banco Santander, Europe’s largest bank by market capitalization, today will inaugurate Brown’s annual series of International Advanced Research Institutes. Santander, based in Spain, will increase its presence in the United States through the planned acquisition of Sovereign Bancorp, the Pennsylvania-based savings and loan with a large branch network in Rhode Island. The institutes will convene in June and will address topics such as technology and entrepreneurship, development economics, population studies and engineering. Each institute will last one to four weeks. Brown and Santander’s cooperation agreement, through Santander Universities Global Division, will also fund grants for Brown students to spend one term studying abroad; an internship for Brown students to work at Santander-affiliated banks around the world; and a Spanish language instruction program for Brown students and members of the Brown community using e-learning in conjunction with the Cervantes Institute, a worldwide nonprofit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991.

Mount Washington Resort offers invitation

The head of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods has told President-elect Barack Obama the hotel is interested in hosting a repeat of a global economic summit. The resort’s president, Pat Corso, said the hotel has hosted many world leaders and could provide the security and appropriate setting for such a high-profile summit. President Bush, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown have already been invited. Corso invited Obama after his Nov. 4 victory. In 1944, the Mount Washington Hotel hosted the historic Bretton Woods summit of 44 nations that resulted in the creation of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

EMC holds conference in Prague

Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC Corp., a major provider of information infrastructure systems, Tuesday opened its annual customer and partner conference in Prague, Czech Republic. The company welcomed nearly 1,500 attendees this year, a 35-percent growth in customer attendance from last year’s conference. At the meeting, the company unveiled early-access release software that implements its recently announced content management interoperability services and introduced several international languages for its premier customer communication management software.

Thermo Fisher acquires Raymond A. Lamb

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., of Waltham, Mass., has acquired Raymond A. Lamb Ltd., a manufacturer of histology and anatomical pathology products based in Eastbourne, United Kingdom, near London. In business since 1964, Raymond A. Lamb has grown to become a global provider of products for the pathology laboratory. Recently, its focus has been on systems that automate the labeling and tracking of slides and cassettes that carry patient tissue samples, reducing the possibility of errors during their processing, storage and retrieval. The company has had a long-standing relationship with the anatomical pathology business of Thermo Fisher as a supplier of labeling products for cassettes and glass slides, as well as other anatomical pathology equipment. Raymond A. Lamb had revenues of approximately $9 million last year, and will be integrated into Thermo Fisher’s Analytical Technologies Segment.

Dartmouth announces endowment loss

Dartmouth College, in Hanover, N.H., is tightening its budget after its endowment lost $220 million. The Dartmouth board of trustees announced the loss after its November meeting last week. The board blamed the loss on poor returns on stocks and bonds because of the Wall Street meltdown. Trustees do not plan to increase tuition but will focus on cutting spending. The college pledged not to cut financial aid. Dartmouth relies on its endowment for 36 percent of its budget, allowing the school to rely less on tuition to cover its expenses.

UVM faces ‘unprecedented’ deficit

University of Vermont president Dan Fogel says the university is facing an “unprecedented” shortfall of more than $20 million. The deficit came to light as the Burlington university’s planners started work on the budget for fiscal year 2010, which starts July 1. Fogel says many things contributed to the funding gap, including increased borrowing costs, rising energy costs and UVM’s practice of paying for continuing costs with one-time-only revenue sources. The university’s trustees will review the budget in February.

Conn. nursing home agrees to fine

Federal prosecutors say a New Britain, Conn., nursing home has agreed to pay about $222,000 to settle allegations that it illegally submitted claims to federal health-care plans. Authorities say the Walnut Hill Care Center turned in claims for services performed by a nurse whom the federal government excluded from Medicare and Medicaid because her Florida nursing license had been revoked. Prosecutors say Walnut Hill officials hired Orphia Wilson in June 2005, but failed to check a database to see if she was excluded from Medicare and Medicaid. The nursing home did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement. Authorities say the nursing home fired Wilson in 2006 after learning her Connecticut license was also being revoked.

Vermont issues warning on asbestos mine

The State of Vermont is warning people to stay away from an abandoned asbestos mine in Eden and Lowell because of the health threat posed by asbestos. Scientists studied health records and death certificates from towns within 10 miles of the mine. They say they found a statistically significant increase in cases of lung cancer and asbestosis. The study found the odds of dying from asbestosis are more than 12 times as high among people living close to the mine compared with people living farther away. The lung cancer risk is also higher. There’s a huge pile of waste rock containing asbestos at the site. The area is frequently used by people riding all-terrain vehicles.