Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
50 Employees Of Kansas Hospital — Including The CEO — Get COVID
Becker's Hospital Review: Kansas Hospital CEO, Employees Infected With COVID-19
Fifty employees at Gove County Medical Center in Quinter, Kan., including CEO David Caudill, tested positive for COVID-19 in the last two to three weeks, Mr. Caudill confirmed to Becker's Hospital Review. Twenty-six of the infected employees have recovered and two remained hospitalized Oct. 16. (Gooch, 10/16)
Boston Globe: Amid A Rising Tide Of COVID-19, Hospitals Stock Up On Protective Gear
As COVID-19 hospitalizations in Massachusetts inch up day by day, Oliveira is among several hospital officials who expressed a cautious optimism that adequate supplies of personal protective equipment — known as PPE — will be on hand during the second wave of COVID-19. That’s not to say that worries don’t continue: N95 masks, the best protection against the virus, remain hard to get, and a shortage of exam gloves is anticipated. But the global supply chain has stabilized, US manufacturing has expanded, hospitals and the state are stocking up in advance, and new avenues for purchasing have opened up. (Freyer, 10/18)
USA Today: Dentists, Reeling From Pandemic, To Raise Fees, Sell Practices
Millions of Americans are delaying dental appointments over concerns about coronavirus infection, and that's likely to trigger increased fees for patients, job cuts for workers and fewer family practices. When the pandemic began this spring, essentially all dentists temporarily shut down for all but emergency appointments, putting hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work. While 99% of dentists have reopened, the number of patients visiting offices remains about 20% below usual levels, according to the American Dental Association. (Bomey, 10/19)
Modern Healthcare: Nurses Share In Pandemic Decisionmaking Process Through Professional Governance
Like health systems across the country and around the world, Emory Healthcare in Atlanta faced a personal protective equipment shortage when the coronavirus pandemic hit. The system was running out of gowns and had to decide whether to recycle or wash them. Instead of making that decision themselves, Emory’s leaders turned to their nurses. (Christ, 10/17)
Modern Healthcare: Yale New Haven's COVID-19 Nurse-Staffing Model Has Long-Term Benefits
Yale New Haven Hospital anticipated in March it would soon need as many as 500 more beds to treat an expected influx of coronavirus inpatients. Although the 1,540-bed Connecticut teaching hospital used staffing agencies in part to help with the heightened demand, the closure of operating rooms and clinics presented an opportunity to leverage those nurses, too. (Castellucci, 10/17)
Georgia Health News: He Tried To Fix America’s Ailing Nursing Homes. Now Taxpayers May Owe $76 Million.
With the help of approximately $300 million in bonus payments, Rollins quietly built one of Georgia’s largest health care empires, which over a decade and a half grew up from making $20 million in total revenues to over $650 million in total revenue. Rollins' nonprofit network, today called Community Health Services of Georgia, or CHSGa, includes a company called Ethica, which includes 55 nursing homes, and related firms that supply the facilities with prescription drugs, health care supplies and medical transportation. (Blau, 10/17)
In other health industry news —
Crain's New York Business: Lenox Hill Hospital Expansion Faces Opposition Due To Health Care Inequalities
Northwell Health’s $2.5 billion expansion plan for the Lenox Hill Hospital is facing vehement opposition from healthcare advocates who say the project neglects communities of color because it serves one of the city’s whitest enclaves rather than underserved neighborhoods that need more investment. These communities in the outer boroughs have been disproportionately devastated by the pandemic, the hospital’s opponents say, and the last thing the city needs is a luxury facility in an affluent neighborhood with ample health care resources. (Sachmechi, 10/16)
Modern Healthcare: Methodist Le Bonheur Accused Of Paying Kickbacks To Physicians
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare allegedly paid independent physicians more than $400 million for referrals, according to a whistleblower lawsuit. A former Methodist board member and the former CEO of Methodist University Hospital claimed that Methodist would share 340B drug discount program profits with West Clinic physicians each year as well as guarantee above fair market value rates for services, according to a qui tam lawsuit filed in Tennessee federal court in 2017. The scheme allegedly netted more than $1.5 billion in inflated revenues from 2012 to 2018, about half of which was funded by Medicare and Medicaid. (Kacik, 10/16)
KHN: UVA Health Still Squeezing Money From Patients — By Seizing Their Home Equity
Doris Hutchinson wanted to use money from the sale of her late mother’s house to help her grandchildren go to college. Then she learned the University of Virginia Health System was taking $38,000 of the proceeds because a 13-year-old medical bill owed by her deceased brother had somehow turned into a lien on the property. “It was a mess,” she said. “There are bills I could pay with that money. I could pay off my car, for one thing.” (Hancock, 10/19)
Crain's Chicago Business: Is Medical Real Estate Immune To COVID?
COVID-19 continues to ail investors in most types of commercial real estate. But many of those that own healthcare properties are feeling good. While the pandemic jacks up vacancy, hampers property values and raises critical questions about the future of the retail and hospitality and traditional office sectors, medical office buildings have been largely free of those economic symptoms. (Ecker, 10/18)
WGXA: Navicent CEO Dr. Ninfa Saunders Steps Down, Acting President Takes The Helm
The Medical Center, Navicent Health says that President and CEO Dr. Ninfa Saunders has effectively stepped down. In a release from the hospital, "As previously communicated, Dr. Ninfa Saunders recently informed us that after an eight-year tenure as President & CEO of Navicent Health, she would be retiring in early 2021. For personal and health reasons, Dr. Saunders will be transitioning from this role, effective October 16, 2020." (Mines, 10/16)
