New York City's Floating Hospital has its origins in a ferryboat ride for newsboys organized by The New York Times in 1866. The newspaper appealed to the public to provide funds for excursions each summer to help the young ragamuffins escape the sweltering streets for a few hours. Management of the program was turned over to a charity, St. John's Guild, in 1873, and the group soon began to put doctors on the ferryboats to provide health services for the newsboys and other city children. The organization provided ship-based until 2001, when it could no longer afford dock space. Today The Floating Hospital provides health care services to indigent New Yorkers via a network of clinics located throughout the city.

Source BioScience, formerly Medical Solutions, wants to be a one-stop shop for UK health care providers and drug developers. The company provides cancer screening services, through its own reference laboratory, and also distributes a Becton Dickinson cervical cancer testing system to the UK market. Additionally, the firm provides pathology testing and other analysis services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies; and through its life science research unit, called Geneservice, it offers tools and services (including DNA sequencing and gene products like DNA samples). In 2008 the company acquired Autogen Bioclear, a UK distributor of diagnostic and research products; Autogen also manufactures antibody products.

American Baptist Homes of the West (ABHOW) preaches the gospel of the active senior lifestyle, operating about 30 senior living facilities in four western states. Most of ABHOW's communities are government-subsidized apartments for low-income seniors. About a dozen of its residences, however, are continuing care retirement communities, which offer a range of care -- residential living, assisted living, or skilled nursing -- depending on residents' needs. The communities also schedule social activities and offer wellness programs and transportation services. Parent company Cornerstone Affiliates acquires and develops communities.

MedDetect is lending its helping hand to the healthcare sector. The company makes the MD-2000 MedDetect Instrument Detection System, a device that scans and retrieves medical and surgical instruments for hospitals and surgery centers. Other products include the EZ Glide Bag Scanner (used for the handling and scanning of medical waste) and MD SuperFabric Reusable Gloves (offers high puncture resistance to needles and other sharp instruments). MedDetect's sales operations are located in Rochester, Illinois.

Bluegrass Family Health (BFH) does provide health care services in the Bluegrass State. Bluegrass Family Health company is a not-for-profit subsidiary of Baptist Healthcare System that offers HMO, POS, and PPO health insurance plans to its customers. Established in 1993, BFH serves hundreds of thousands of members in counties throughout Kentucky, as well as in areas of Indiana and Tennessee, through direct sales agents and independent brokers. BFH contracts with hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, and other health care providers to offer services to its enrollees. The firm is led by CEO James Fritz.

Medical Action Industries is cleaning up in the medical products marketplace. The company manufactures, markets, and distributes a wide range of disposable medical products. Some of its main products include wash basins and bedpans, IV start kits, containment systems for medical waste, sterilization products, dressing and surgical sponges, and laboratory products (such as petri dishes and specimen containers). Though it sells primarily to hospitals, Medical Action Industries has expanded its product lines and marketing efforts to target doctors, dentists, veterinarians, outpatient centers, and long-term care facilities. The company's major customers are medical distributors Owens & Minor and Cardinal Health.

Vanguard Health Systems wants to lead the way to better health care. The company operates more than a dozen for-profit acute care hospitals located in mostly affluent urban and suburban markets in Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Texas; all told, the hospitals have more than 4,000 licensed beds. Vanguard's medical campuses generally include outpatient facilities and medical office buildings that form local health care networks providing a continuum of care. Vanguard also runs three managed health care plans that serve more than 200,000 members in Arizona and Illinois (though its hospitals account for about 75% of its sales). The Blackstone Group owns a majority stake in the company.

Inova Alexandria Hospital provides medical, surgical, and therapeutic services in northeastern Virginia. Inova Alexandria Hospital was founded in 1872 and became part of the not-for-profit Inova Health System in 1997. Inova Alexandria Hospital has about 320 beds. The hospital offers specialty services such as heart and cancer treatment, women's and children's health care, emergency medicine, vascular procedures, interventional radiology, and sleep disorder and heartburn treatment services. The Inova Health System provides health care services in northern Virginia through a network of hospitals, clinics, assisted living centers, and other provider facilities.

Robert Bosch Healthcare (formerly Health Hero Network) wants to be your healthy buddy. The subsidiary of Robert Bosch makes the Health Buddy brand of patient monitoring systems and other means of keeping patients and doctors connected. Health care providers use the systems to communicate with patients, collect vital health information, and provide feedback to patients on health progress. Using the system, diabetics can monitor their blood glucose level or be reminded to take their medicine. The company sells the Health Buddy systems to hospitals and HMOs; drug developers use the product for assistance in clinical trials.

Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas provides pediatric health care services to Austin and surrounding communities. Established as the Children's Hospital of Austin in 1988, it was reshaped and renamed with the opening of its freshly built facility in 2007. The medical center operates specialty centers dedicated to blood disorders, cancer care, emergency services, and pediatric surgery. In addition, its Dell Children's Imaging Center offers advanced pediatric imaging options, including computed tomography, fluoroscopy, and radiography. It is a part of the Seton Healthcare Network.

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