(Part two of a series. Part one can be read here , and part three can be read here .)

Two parallel movements are making hospitals more accountable in terms of their processes and outcomes: an orientation toward consumers, and an increasing emphasis on quality by the organizations that pay for health care - particularly the federal government.

"We're in kind of a new age," said Dr. Tom Evans, president and CEO of the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative, an organization formed by the Iowa Hospital Association and the Iowa Medical Society. "Transparency wasn't really even germane until recently. We couldn't even define what good health care was until 15 years ago."

(Part one of a series. Part two can be read here , and part three can be read here .)

When Trinity purchased the Davenport Medical Center in August 1999, it didn't take long for its intentions to become apparent. It bought land in Bettendorf and in April 2000 announced plans to replace its North Campus (what was the Davenport Medical Center) on the new site.

Basically, Trinity was gaining control of hospital beds in Iowa so that under state law it could replace them in a gleaming, state-of-the-art facility: Trinity at Terrace Park. And that facility would compete directly with Genesis Health System's hospitals in the Iowa Quad Cities.

River Action is hosting the second-annual Taming of the Slough Mississippi Adventure Race on Saturday, September 15, starting at 7:30 a.m. The race begins in downtown Moline at the Quad City Rowing Association boathouse at 17th Street and the Mississippi River. The canoe/kayak leg is one mile in Sylvan Slough; the mountain-bike leg continues onto Sylvan Island; and the run heads back through downtown Moline, finishing at Bass Street Landing for a post-race party. Register online at (http://www.riveraction.org), or for more information contact River Action at (563) 322-2969 or (dan@riveraction.org).

While the bankruptcy law that went into effect in October 2005 was opposed by consumer groups and supported by credit-card companies (and their campaign contributions), those things don't automatically make it bad public policy.