Stanford Nurses Strike May End Soon; Cedars-Sinai Workers Set To Walk Out

Modern Healthcare: Stanford Health, Nurses Reach Tentative Agreement To End Strike
Five thousand striking nurses at Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health in California could return to work by Tuesday, if members of the nurses' union approve a tentative agreement reached late Friday with the hospitals. The tentative three-year contract negotiated by the Committee for the Recognition of Nursing Achievement union and Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health would end a strike that started Monday. Nurses will vote on the agreement Sunday, and results will be announced Monday, the union said. (Christ, 4/30)

Modern Healthcare: Cedars-Sinai Workers Set Strike Date
Members of a union representing 2,000 workers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are set to go on strike May 9. Service Employees Union International-United Healthcare Workers West members are protesting unfair labor practices, safety concerns, short staffing and low wages, the union said Friday. The union's contract with the not-for-profit hospital ended March 31. Contract bargaining began March 21, according to the union. Earlier this month, the union announced workers planned to go on strike in May if no progress was made in negotiations. (Christ, 4/29)

On racism in health care —

AP: Black Doctors Say They Face Discrimination Based On Race
Dr. Dare Adewumi was thrilled when he was hired to lead the neurosurgery practice at an Atlanta-area hospital near where he grew up. But he says he quickly faced racial discrimination that ultimately led to his firing and has prevented him from getting permanent work elsewhere. His lawyers and other advocates say he’s not alone, that Black doctors across the country commonly experience discrimination, ranging from microaggressions to career-threatening disciplinary actions. Biases, conscious or not, can become magnified in the fiercely competitive hospital environment, they say, and the underrepresentation of Black doctors can discourage them from speaking up. (Brumback, 5/1)

Meanwhile —

The New York Times: Loss Of Pandemic Aid Stresses Hospitals That Treat The Uninsured
The infusion of aid is ending at a time when hospitalizations from Covid are receding, but as safety-net providers are facing tremendous unmet needs from patients who have delayed care for chronic conditions and other health problems even more than usual during the pandemic. “Their margins are slim to begin with,” Beth Feldpush, the senior vice president for policy and advocacy at America’s Essential Hospitals, which represents safety-net hospitals, said of the institutions. She added that some were already having a “more difficult time bouncing back operationally and financially.” Nashville General has seen an average of just one Covid patient a week recently. But its doctors and nurses say that a wide range of health problems that worsened during the pandemic are now overwhelming the hospital. (Weiland, 5/1)

Reuters: Law Firm Files Class Action Against Pharma Company Natera
Law firm Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP on Sunday said it had filed a securities class action lawsuit against pharmaceutical company Natera Inc (NTRA.O) on behalf of shareholders, according to a statement. The law firm said the main justification for the lawsuit filed in the U.S. district court of the Western district of Texas was that Natera, which specializes in genetic testing and diagnostics, provided information about the efficacy of its tests that have not proved accurate. (5/1)

Crain's Detroit Business: Michigan State University, Henry Ford Health Partnership Will Continue Without Lassiter
The departure of Henry Ford Health CEO Wright Lassiter III is hardly surprising — he's been a rising star in healthcare nationally for years — but it comes in the middle of several projects that are career- and legacy-defining. The most prominent of the projects is a partnership with Michigan State University with plans for a new research center located south of the health system's Detroit campus on West Grand Boulevard. It will house researchers and physicians on translational research — specifically looking at cancer, neuroscience, women's health, imaging and public health. (Walsh, 4/29)

Stat: Meet The Policy Makers Who Want To Bring Health Tech Into The Home 
Years into the pandemic’s almost overnight transition to virtual care, providers and health plans are now scrambling to build sustainable systems that can more permanently treat patients in their homes via telehealth or other means, a trend they say could cut costs and make health care more convenient for patients. There’s widespread interest. Health systems are piloting their own “hospital at home” programs, some of which use biometric sensors to passively monitor patients before their conditions worsen, minimizing unnecessary in-person visits. Industry giants like UnitedHealth Group are poised to spend billions of dollars on home health providers; Amazon’s clinic chain Amazon Care threw its weight behind home health when it joined the Moving Health Home policy coalition last year. (Ravindranath, 5/2)

Modern Healthcare: UCM Digital Health Forms Partnership To Launch Mobile Integrated Healthcare Nationwide
Telehealth and emergency medicine triage provider UCM Digital Health is partnering with another emergency medicine group to expand patient-centered, mobile resources outside of hospitals. UCM and Empress Emergency Medical Services expect their collaboration will allow patients to access virtual and hands-on medical care at home, work, or wherever they are without visiting the emergency department or urgent care. (Devereaux, 4/29)

The Wall Street Journal: OrbiMed Seeks $4.75 Billion For Fresh Slate Of Healthcare-Focused Funds
Healthcare-focused investment firm OrbiMed Advisors is seeking $4.75 billion across three new funds a little more than a year after raising $3.5 billion for a trio of predecessor vehicles, regulatory filings indicate. The New York-based firm is pitching its latest funds following a record year of private investment in the healthcare sector. Private-equity firms signed a total of some $151 billion worth of healthcare deals globally in 2021, driven by a glut of large transactions, WSJ Pro Private Equity previously reported. Venture investment in the sector also hit a record, surpassing $86 billion in 2021, according to a report by Silicon Valley Bank that cites data from PitchBook Data Inc. (Kreutzer, 4/29)