Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Number Of Psychiatrists Slips, Des Moines Hospitals Invest $825,000 In Mental Health Residency Programs
Des Moines Register: Des Moines Hospitals Counter Psychiatrist Shortage By Training Their Own
Before now, University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City had the only psychiatry training program in the state — and it could not keep up with demand. The result has been a worsening shortage of psychiatrists, forcing many Iowa patients to wait weeks or even months for an appointment. Several Iowa hospitals have closed their mental health units in recent years, citing a lack of qualified staff, including psychiatrists. Experts say the main problem used to be that few young doctors wanted to be psychiatrists. That’s no longer true. The past several years have seen a surge of medical school graduates wanting to join the specialty — but there aren’t nearly enough psychiatric training programs to take them. (Leys, 7/25)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Public Forum On Charity Hospital Will Have A Big Piece Missing
Greater New Orleans residents on Wednesday evening (July 25) will get their initial look at a first-of-its-kind economic development district proposed for the central business district that will be centered around the abandoned Charity Hospital. A meeting being organized by the Greater New Orleans Foundation, which is leading the public engagement effort for the "Spirit of Charity Innovation District," will hold a community workshop to help residents envision what the district will look like. Design Jones LLC is assisting GNOF with a strategic plan for the district, and is helping gather public input for what it will look like. (Litten, 7/25)
Modern Healthcare: Ascension To Close Washington, D.C., Hospital
Ascension will close its 283-bed hospital in Washington D.C. by the end of the year as it looks to replace its acute-care services with more ambulatory services, the nation's largest Catholic health system announced Wednesday. St. Louis-based Ascension said Providence Health System, which includes the hospital and a network of ambulatory sites in D.C. and Maryland, will focus on telehealth, primary and urgent care, home care, community-based behavioral care and senior care as well as population health. (Kacik, 7/25)
California Healthline: Community Frets As Buyer For Cherished Rural Hospital Slips From View
Confusion is growing in the remote Surprise Valley region of northeastern California as locals wonder whether a Denver entrepreneur will make good on his pledge to save their bankrupt rural hospital. Surprise Valley Community Hospital, located in Cedarville, Calif., was featured in a June 6 California Healthline story illustrating the plight of strapped rural hospitals and controversial efforts by some to stay solvent through laboratory billing for patients never treated on-site. (Ostrov, 7/25)
Dallas Morning News: As Trial Nears, Dallas Hospital Owner Admits Bribing Doctors For High-Volume, Lucrative Surgeries
With trial just three months away, prosecutors have added another big name to their growing witness list in the alleged $200 million health care fraud involving Forest Park Medical Center — a hospital once hailed as a successful new industry model. Alan Andrew Beauchamp, a Forest Park co-founder who managed the hospital, has agreed to plead guilty in the case. He says in the plea documents that he recruited high-volume specialty doctors and paid them millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to perform their surgeries at the now-defunct Dallas hospital. (Krause, 7/24)
