Hudson Valley Business + Year-End Wrap-Up : Education, Training, Placement

Efficiency as good medicine
With some planning, more time for patients
By LYNN WOODS

Health care providers are taking a page from the manufacturing world and utilizing lean operations to increase efficiency. While the emphasis in manufacturing has been on lowering costs, in the health care sector, the focus of such techniques is on improving quality of service.

The Y and the wherewithal
Girls and young women grow real-world skills
By LYNN WOODS

Founded more than a century ago on a mission of social justice, the YWCA today is an important provider of services to the poorer communities in the Hudson Valley. YWCAs in three counties – Westchester, Orange and Ulster – collectively provide day care and after-school programs for working parents; free cancer screenings for women; parenting classes; programs discouraging teen pregnancy; child care services for parents attending family court; and even, in the case of Westchester, 185 affordable-housing units for single women.