Local notes

Health care coalition A new group known as the Community Coalition for Improved Patient Care has scheduled a rally and news conference for noon today at the corner of Meyer Boulevard and Prospect Avenue, near Research Medical Center. The coalition said it was composed of representatives of the religious community, labor unions, elected officials and other community groups. Participants in the rally will announce the formation of the coalition. Also to be discussed are issues involving the health care system and an effort to unionize nurses at Health Midwest hospitals, including Research. - Julius A. Karash/The Star Cerner appointment Cerner Corp., a North Kansas City-based medical software company, has announced the appointment of Douglas M. Krebs as president of its Cerner International division. "Cerner has an immense opportunity to revolutionize the practice and delivery of health care throughout the world through our leadership in clinical systems and patient safety," Krebs said in a statement. "We continue to increase our market share in Australia, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East through HNA Millennium implementations and strong client support teams." Cerner's HNA Millennium software is used by more than 1,000 hospitals and health systems around the world for tasks such as coordinating patient care and providing electronic medical records. Krebs joined Cerner in 1994 as regional vice president for the southeastern United States. He previously worked at IBM in sales and executive marketing. Cerner International formerly was led by Francois Sauer, who left Cerner last year. - Julius A. Karash/The Star Patched together KMBC-TV and Time Warner Cable have extended their shaky relationship through at least the end of the February ratings period. Hearst-Argyle Television, which owns KMBC, gave the cable operator permission to continue carrying Channel 9's signal even though the two sides have still not signed a new agreement. The old one expired last month. Hearst-Argyle is asking for higher fees for Lifetime, a cable channel it partly owns, as well as for Time Warner Cable to carry a spinoff channel, Lifetime Movie Network. A reprieve granted last month was set to expire this week; now KMBC will be carried at least through March 2. - Aaron Barnhart/The Star