Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Blaze Destroys Part Of Pa. Hospital; 77 Patients Flee To Safety In Frigid Temps
The (Scranton, Pa.) Times-Tribune: Fire At Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City In Pennsylvania; 77 Patients Evacuated
Flames shot from the roof of Lehigh Valley Hospital-Dickson City on Wednesday night forcing patients and employees to evacuate and prompting a massive response from about 100 firefighters and first responders from throughout the region. Lackawanna County Emergency Management Agency Director Tom Taylor said 77 patients were evacuated and relocated to area hospitals. Dickson City Fire Chief Richard Chowanec said there were no injuries. The extent of the damage to the hospital was not clear late Wednesday, but its closure, even temporarily, would add pressure to an already strained local health care landscape, including in terms of emergency department beds. (Gibbons, Horvath and Tomkavage, 2/5)
More health care industry updates —
Modern Healthcare: DaVita-Elara Caring Deal Signals New Approach In Home Care
DaVita Kidney Care and private equity firm Ares Management are acquiring Elara Caring in a deal that could represent a new approach to growing the kidney and home care sectors. DaVita said this week it plans to spend $200 million for an unspecified minority stake in the home health and hospice company. The deal would bring together one of the nation’s largest kidney services providers by revenue and a major player in the home health and hospice sector. A spokesperson for Ares would not disclose the size of the private equity firm’s majority stake. (Eastabrook, 2/4)
Fierce Healthcare: Kaiser Permanente, Renown Health Launch Northern Nevada JV
Kaiser Permanente and Renown Health have wrapped the paperwork on a deal forming an insurance and outpatient care joint venture in northern Nevada. (Muoio, 2/3)
Modern Healthcare: Health Systems Share Spinoff And Spinout Tips
Health systems are looking to profit from the expertise of their employees, bringing innovations for the industry to market through the formation of companies. Several health systems recently have commercialized technologies created internally. Experts say the strategy comes with a separate set of challenges than traditional venture investing. (Perna, 2/3)
The Boston Globe: Dana-Farber, MGB Announce Major Gifts For Competing Cancer Visions
The arms race over the future of cancer care in Boston intensified on Wednesday when Dana-Farber Cancer Institute announced the largest single gift in its 79-year-history, for its planned $1.68 billion, 300-bed cancer hospital. Dana-Farber, which wants to build the hospital on the site of Joslin Diabetes Center in the Longwood Medical Area as part of a partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, didn’t disclose the size of the gift. The donors, Josh and Anita Bekenstein and the Jonathan and Jeannie Lavine family, want to keep the amount private. (Saltzman, 2/4)
Also —
Healthcare Dive: One-Quarter Of Medicaid Doctors Don’t Actually Treat Medicaid Patients: Study
More than one-fourth of doctors enrolled in Medicaid didn’t actually deliver care to any Medicaid beneficiaries in 2021, according to new research adding to worries about low physician participation in the safety-net insurance program. (Parduhn, 2/4)
