Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As 700 Hospitals Face Closure Risks In 2024, Big Providers' Profits Soar
Axios: Rich-Poor Divide In U.S. Hospitals Widens As 700+ At Risk Of Closing
Some of America's largest hospital systems saw their financials soar in the first half of 2024. And yet, more than 700 facilities across the country still are at risk of closing. It's a familiar tale of the rich getting richer, as big, mostly for-profit health systems see improved margins while smaller facilities in outlying areas are barely hanging on. (Reed, 8/6)
Modern Healthcare: Tenet To Sell Majority Stake In 5 Hospitals To Orlando Health
Tenet Healthcare is selling its majority stake in Brookwood Baptist Health to Florida-based Orlando Health in a $910 million cash deal. The transaction is expected to close this fall and involves five Alabama hospitals: Brookwood Baptist Medical Center, Princeton Baptist Medical Center, Walker Baptist Medical Center, Shelby Baptist Medical Center and Citizens Baptist Medical Center, as well as affiliated physician practices and other operations, according to a Monday news release. (Hudson, 8/5)
The Boston Globe: Steward Hospital Bidder Says It Wanted Carney, Nashoba, Others
A physician-owned health system that operates hospitals for low-income residents in Michigan and Illinois said it made a bid for all Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts but couldn’t reach an agreement that would allow it to take over the struggling hospitals. “We remain interested in being part of the solution to keep the hospitals’ doors open,” Atif Bawahab, chief strategy officer for Insight Health Systems, based in Flint, Mich., said in a statement. (Weisman and Carson, 8/5)
Modern Healthcare: Novant To Buy UCI Medical’s Urgent Cares, Physical Therapy Sites
Novant Health said Monday it is acquiring UCI Medical Affiliates, which includes the urgent care business Doctors Care and Progressive Physical Therapy, from BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. The transaction is expected to close in the fall, Novant said. Financial details were not disclosed. (Hudson, 8/5)
Also —
Stat: Disparities Increase In Post-Hospital Care For Heart Patients
Recovery from a cardiac-related hospitalization requires coordinated, timely care to prevent a return to the hospital for an avoidable readmission. A new study concludes that while the picture is getting brighter for all Medicare patients, persistent racial disparities are widening. (Cooney, 8/5)
KFF Health News: Native American Public Health Officials Are Stuck In Data Blind Spot
It’s not easy to make public health decisions without access to good data. ... The 2010 reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act gave tribal epidemiology centers public health authority and requires the federal Department of Health and Human Services to grant them access to and use of data and other protected health information that’s regularly distributed to state and local officials. But tribal epidemiology center workers have told government investigators that’s not often the case. (Orozco Rodriguez, 8/6)
The Texas Tribune: Mental Health Students Held Back From Lack Of Supervisors
It was early 2022, and Kiany Casillas was in a panic. It had been two years since she and her newborn daughter had followed her husband from California to the Texas Panhandle, and during that time, she had enrolled at Texas Tech University Health Science Center to pursue a career as a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. (Simpson, 8/5)
