Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Calif. A.G. Allows Sale Of Safety-Net Hospitals To Prime Healthcare
California Healthline: State Attorney General OKs Sale of Hospitals to Prime, But With Conditions
The state Attorney General last week approved the sale of six California safety-net hospitals to Prime Healthcare after a long and contentious approval process. (Gorn, 2/23)
San Jose Mercury News: Prime Healthcare Has No Wiggle Room With Attorney General Mandate In Hospital Deal
Take it or leave it. That's the message to a Southern California for-profit company from Attorney General Kamala Harris who late last week laid out a dozen requirements for Prime Healthcare Services' $843 million deal to buy six cash-crunched nonprofit hospitals. (Seipel, 2/23)
Meanwhile, in Georgia -
Georgia Health News: Rural Health Panel Offers Plan To Cut ER Use
A special state panel created by Gov. Nathan Deal has proposed a pilot program that would use telemedicine and other techniques to bolster rural health care in Georgia. The Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee report, released Monday, supports a “hub and spoke’’ model to relieve the burden on rural hospital emergency rooms. It would use telemedicine-equipped ambulances to facilitate remote diagnoses of patients in rural areas. (Miller, 2/23)
The Associated Press: Rural Health Panel Backs Changes At Struggling Hospitals In Georiga
A panel studying Georgia's rural health issues on Monday recommended a pilot program pairing four hospitals with other providers in their area, creating a "hub and spoke" model aimed at cutting down on expensive emergency room visits to struggling hospitals. Members of the Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee said in their report that four rural facilities have closed in recent months and 15 are financially fragile — including six operating on a "day-to-day basis." (2/23)
