1199SEIU Benefit and Pension Funds (aptly, if somewhat awkwardly named) is a not-for-profit, self-administered welfare trust fund that provides health and pension benefits to some 400,000 working and retired members of New York's 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, a union of health industry workers in New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia. Members of the union -- who work in hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies, and home care and social agencies -- and their families can receive comprehensive health coverage, life and disability insurance, and pension benefits. The organization is funded by employer contributions negotiated by the union in collective bargaining agreements.

All Children's Hospital has more than 250 beds, all dedicated to the health of west central Florida's children. With more than 140 pediatric physician specialists on board, the hospital offers its young patients a variety of services including a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for premature and "at-risk" infants. Its heart, bone marrow, and kidney transplant programs are nationally renowned. Other specialties include cancer, cystic fibrosis, cardiology, neurology, and cleft palate care. The teaching hospital is also affiliated with the University of South Florida College of Medicine.

Harmony Health Plan of Illinois operates a Medicaid HMO that serves about 140,000 Medicaid recipients in a handful of counties in southwestern Illinois and eastern Missouri. Operated through state contracts, the company's managed health care plans include programs for needy families, supplemental security income recipients, and children of low-income families. Its plans cover basic medical care, including hospitalization, yearly check-ups, and emergency room visits, as well as pharmacy co-payments and dental and transportation services. Harmony Health Plan is a subsidiary of WellCare. It operates as Harmony Health Plans of Missouri in that market.

Pennine Healthcare products may be disposable, but they're anything but dispensable. The company makes sterile, single use medical devices, manufacturing more than 50 million per year at its facilities in Derby. The disposable products are designed for applications in airway management (suction catheters, mucus extractors), gastroenterology (stomach tubes, bile bags), respiratory uses (filters, oxygen therapy), surgical suction (tubes and probes), and urology (various types of catheters). The firm also offers custom procedure packs for surgical procedures. Its products are sold by third-party distributors throughout the UK and in more than 70 countries.

DEKA Research and Development is perhaps best known for its founder and president Dean Kamen -- and for the Segway Personal Transporter he invented. DEKA is a design and engineering firm that develops innovative technologies, many of them in the field of medical devices. The Segway itself was an offshoot of the iBOT, an all-terrain, stair-climbing wheelchair the company developed with Independence Technology, a unit of Johnson & Johnson. (Kamen founded a separate company in 1999 to market the Segway.) DEKA's other products include a portable dialysis machine developed in partnership with Baxter International and an improved intravascular stent made with J&J's Cordis. DEKA was founded in 1982.

Corpus Christi Medical Center was founded in 1962 as a 26-bed care center. Corpus Christi Medical Center provides health care services to Texans living along the Gulf Coast. Part of the HCA family, the hospital system includes facilities spanning four campuses. The center boasts some 580 beds and offers acute care services. Corpus Christi Medical Center includes Doctors Regional, Bay Area, The Heart Hospital, and Northwest. Specialties include breast cancer treatment, heart disease care, orthopedic medicine, and neonatal intensive care. Most facilities include doctors' offices as well.

Empi empathizes with patients who have pain, swelling, spasms, and muscle weakness. The company makes and markets a wide range of medical products, including non-pharmaceutical pain management and orthopedic electrotherapy devices. Empi's product brands include the Saunders cervical traction device used for spinal decompression therapy, the SporTX electrotherapy device for injury swelling reduction, and Minnova, a device that stimulates the pelvic floor to treat urinary incontinence. Empi sells to rehabilitation clinics and medical device distributors nationwide, as well as abroad. The company is a division of medical device maker DJO.

Elron Electronic Industries fosters all kinds of high-tech endeavors. The conglomerate founds or invests in Israeli technology companies in a number of fields, including medical devices, semiconductors, software, telecommunications, and clean technology. It typically owns controlling or significant minority stakes in its group companies, for which it plays an active management role; it periodically spins off its offspring to realize gains for investing in new opportunities. Through subsidiary RDC, the company partners with Rafael, a research unit of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, to adapt Rafael-produced technologies for non-military uses.

Excela Health's hospitals and clinics hope to rank as excellent health care providers to residents of southwestern Pennsylvania. Members of the health system, which serves Pennsylvania's Westmoreland, Indiana, and Fayette counties, include Westmoreland Hospital, Latrobe Hospital, and Frick Hospital. Combined, the facilities give Excela Health some 615 acute care beds. In addition to general medical and surgical care, the hospitals offer outpatient and specialty treatment in areas such as heart disease, cancer, and women's health. The system operates ancillary businesses as well, including a home health and hospice agency, surgery centers, primary and specialty care clinics, and an ambulance service.

Founded in 1924, Baptist Healthcare System has been bringing advanced medical technology, modern facilities, and many of the region's most prominent physicians and medical professionals to the cities and communities of Kentucky for more than 70 years.But there's much more to Baptist Healthcare System than our network of hospitals and professionals. It's not just what we are; it's what we're about. From the beginning, our mission has been to provide medical services and enhance the health of the people and communities we serve. Our vision is to be the healthcare leader in Kentucky. And everyday, in everything we do, we live out our Christ-centered mission to others and work to achieve our vision, guided by these values: integrity, excellence, stewardship, collaboration and respect. As a not-for-profit health care provider, we've made a commitment to the communities we serve to provide care and services that go far beyond what is expected of a hospital, including charity care, education, community involvement and partnerships and a wide variety of special programs and services.

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