Heiger

BUTLER TWP — Jeffrey Heiger, chief engineer for the VA Butler Healthcare campus, has been named the Veteran Health Administration's Chief Engineer of the Year 2010 nationally.

Heiger, who served four years in the U.S. Navy, has spent 26 years as a VA employee and has been Butler VA's chief engineer since May 2008.

The nationwide award considers all VH engineers. Heiger was picked because he worked to receive $15.7 million in American Recovery Restoration Act funds for the Butler VA for projects such as a new nursing center and a new domiciliary for veterans who are VA patients.

VA Butler Healthcare serves more than 17,000 veterans in Armstrong, Butler, Clarion, Lawrence and Mercer counties, as well as part of Ohio.

"I feel as if I'm a veteran success story," Heiger said in a news release. "After two tours of Vietnam, I used the GI Bill to earn my bachelor's degree in civil engineering.

"For me, to serve our veterans is a privilege. I am honored to be recognized as the 2010 chief engineer of the year."

Hospital's heart center named tops in state

Butler Health System's Heart & Vascular Center has been named the top Cardiovascular Surgery Program in the state, and it also was named in the top 5 percent of the nation.

The center received the rating from HealthGrades, the nation's leading health care quality assessment company.

While BHS has received five star ratings in cardiac bypass surgery for several years by HealthGrades, this is the first time it has received the "Best in the State" designation.

The HealthGrades ratings measure whether patient outcomes for each of more than two dozen procedures and diagnoses are better than expected (five-star rating), as expected (three-star rating) or worse than expected (one-star rating).

Earning a 5-star designation indicates that a hospital has scored in the top 15 percent or better in the nation for clinical quality.

BHS's heart program received the highest possible ratings in coronary bypass surgery and valve replacement surgery and is the top 5 percent in the nation.

GIBSONIA — The 2010 officers for the St. Barnabas Charities Auxiliary have been picked.Each will serve a two-year term: Dianne Whetsell, Coraopolis, president; Ramona Henderson, Moon Township, first vice president; and Linda Dankmyer, Richland Township, corresponding secretary.They join sitting board members: Martha Taylor, Richland Township, recording secretary; Joyce Kirkbride, West Deer Township, second vice president; and Fran Sheffler, Crescent Township, treasurer.The auxiliary raised more than $191,000 for the Free-Care Fund in 2009.T.W. Phillips increase to cover gas costsT.W. Phillips Gas and Oil Co., based in Butler, announced Monday a 4 percent increase in monthly bills to cover gas costs.The average residential customer using 100 million cubic feet, or mcf, of natural gas a month will see his $104 bills rise to $108.Commercial customers using 150 mcf per month face a 2 percent increase with monthly bills going up from $169 to $173.Industrial customers, those who use 6,500 mcf or more per month, will pay a 5 percent increase, with monthly bills jumping from $6,118 to $6,408.This increase will pay for the increases in the actual gas cost to T.W. Phillips as compared to delivery costs.Customers who want to challenge the cost increase can write a complaint to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, P.O. Box 3265, Harrisburg, PA 17105-3265.

NEW YORK — Many retailers reported modest sales gains for January, as limited racks of holiday clearance items failed to entice shoppers to spend more freely.Fourth-quarter profit profits look brighter, however, as Macy's and Bon-Ton Stores are raising their outlooks because they didn't have to discount heavily to see sales improve."Retailers are breathing another sign of relief," said Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics, a research firm. "There are more winners than losers." But he emphasized that shoppers were still being tight with their purse springs."The vast majority are still very focused on value and stretching every dollar. And that's not going to change for most of the year. I don't see a catalyst for spending until the back-to-school season."

NEW YORK— Managed care company Cigna said Thursday it posted a fourth-quarter profit, as improved equity markets boosted a couple of discontinued businesses. The Philadelphia insurer said it earned $330 million, or $1.19 per share, in the three months that ended in December. That compares with a loss of $209 million, or 77 cents per share, a year earlier.Excluding one-time items and one of its discontinued businesses, Cigna says it earned $1.03 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters forecast a profit of 96 cents per share on $4.6 billion in revenue.