Challenges Continue For Rural Hospitals in N.C., Ga.

North Carolina Health News: Rural Hospital Bill Portends Larger Changes For N.C. Hospitals
Last week, Gov. Pat McCrory put his pen to paper and signed into law Senate Bill 698, a bill that will help several struggling hospitals in their attempts to reopen. Tucked into the bill, is a single line repealing two laws written in the 1990s, when Asheville’s Mission Hospital asked for permission to merge with St. Joseph’s Hospital. That 1995 merger would have created a virtual health care monopoly in Asheville, and so the state approved a “certificate of public advantage.” The COPA allowed the merger to proceed while protecting Mission from anti-trust litigation that may have come because of its new size. (Hoban, 11/6)

Georgia Health News: Another Rural Hospital Going Out Of Business
Hospital industry officials say Georgia’s decision not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has hurt rural health care. Hospitals in rural areas tend to treat many uninsured people, incurring heavy losses. If more low-income residents were covered by Medicaid, these hospitals would be guaranteed more revenue. (Miller, 11/6)

The Baltimore Sun: Laurel Hospital To Cease Inpatient Services, Upsetting Community
The last time a hospital closed in Maryland, Bill Clinton was president, Celine Dion was at the top of the music charts and Michael Jordan announced his retirement from basketball. It was 1999 and Liberty Medical Center, New Children's Hospital and Church Hospital in Baltimore all shuttered their doors, blaming low occupancy, steep revenue declines and the challenge of competing as a small hospital. Sixteen years later, Laurel Regional Hospital is ending its status as a full-service hospital — a move that has triggered outrage and protest from politicians, union leaders and residents. (McDaniels, 11/7)

The Baltimore Sun: AAMC To Offer Physician Residencies
The Anne Arundel County Medical Center is planning to expand its teaching capabilities by offering residencies to medical school graduates. Starting in June 2017, the Annapolis hospital will train future doctors through a Graduate Medical Education program, President and CEO Victoria Bayless told the Capital Gazette editorial board Thursday. (Rahman, 11/9)

The Maryland Gazette: Proposed Psych Ward At AAMC Would More Than Double Inpatient Beds In County
About 75 people in need of the most extensive mental health care — those who are a danger to themselves or others — are admitted monthly to Baltimore Washington Medical Center. The Glen Burnie hospital has the only inpatient psychiatric ward in Anne Arundel County. It has 14 beds. Even with 75 admitted, another 65 are transferred to hospitals outside the county for treatment, said Dwight Holmes, who oversees psychiatric services at the hospital. (Weathers, 11/7)

The Connecticut Mirror: AG: Hartford Hospital, Contractor To Pay $90,000 In 2012 Data Theft
Hartford Hospital and one of its contractors have agreed to pay the state $90,000 and undertake training and security measures to resolve an investigation into the theft of a laptop containing unencrypted patient information in June 2012, according to Attorney General George Jepsen’s office. The laptop contained protected health information for 8,883 Connecticut residents when it was stolen from the home of an employee of a Hartford Hospital contractor, EMC Corporation. The hospital had hired the company as part of a project aimed at reducing readmissions. (Levin Becker, 11/6)

Los Angeles Times: Local Hospitals Receive Grades From Watchdog Group Leapfrog
Glendale Adventist Medical Center earned an A grade from a hospital watchdog group for patient safety while three other local hospitals collectively earned a B and two Cs. Leapfrog Group, which releases semi-annual report cards based on criteria such as reducing infections and patient falls, announced last week Glendale Adventist earned its second A of 2015. (Mikailian, 11/7)