Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines has named Dan Aten administrator of its new hospital in West Des Moines, Mercy Medical Center – West Lakes. He is presently project manager for the construction of the hospital, which will replace Mercy Capitol when it opens. Aten led construction of the H-towers on Mercy’s main campus during his tenure as executive vice president from 1977 to 1986. He also served as president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center in Denver and St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe, N.M. He returned to Des Moines in 1990 to lead Iowa Heart Center P.C. Mercy West Lakes is expected to open in the fall of 2009.

Wells Fargo & Co. is eliminating 53 jobs at its auto-loan center in Tempe, Ariz., as a result of the bank’s pending merger with Wachovia Corp, the Charlotte Business Journal reported. Wells Fargo has ended indirect auto-loan originations from centers in Tempe; Eden Prairie, Minn.; and Chester, Pa., a company spokesperson said. Wells Fargo hasn’t disclosed whether job cuts will be made at the Minnesota and Pennsylvania centers, nor has it said how many jobs will remain.

Auto finance company GMAC Financial Services LLC announced this morning the results of a vote that would help the company become better capitalized and viable for the future, CNNMoney reported. GMAC said holders of $21.2 billion of its debt have agreed to a plan that would swap their bonds for approximately $15.7 billion in stock and cash. A total of 59 percent of the company’s debt holders and 39 percent of its Residential Capital division investors made the switch; the goal was 75 percent.

Meredith Corp. announced yesterday a partnership with Serta’s Five Star Mattress to develop and license a new line of mattresses under the Better Homes and Gardens brand. The new BH&G mattress collection will consist of innerspring and specialty beds that will retail from $799 to $1,599. The line will be unveiled at the Las Vegas Furniture Market in February and will be available nationwide beginning in March.

U.S. loan issuance tumbled 55 percent to $764 billion this year, the lowest volume since 1994, according to data from Reuters Loan Pricing Corp. (RLPC). In 2007, loan issuance reached $1.69 trillion. Investment-grade loans fell to $319 billion, down 52 percent from 2007’s $658 billion, and leveraged loan issuance was down 57 percent to $294 billion, compared with $689 billion in 2007, RLPC said.

Initial filings for state jobless benefits fell to 492,000 for the week ending Dec. 27, a decline of 94,000 from the 26-week high of 586,000 claims a week earlier, the U.S. Labor Department said. The previous week, which ended Dec. 20, saw the highest number of jobless claims since Nov. 27, 1982, when initial filings hit 612,000. So far this year, job losses have totaled 1.9 million.

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The Business Record Daily will not publish on Thursday, Jan. 1, in observance of New Year’s Day.