Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
DOJ Opens Investigation Into Potential Fraud At Prospect Medical Holdings
Modern Healthcare: Prospect Medical Holdings Probed By DOJ
The Justice Department opened an investigation into potential fraud at Prospect Medical Holdings, according to recent court filings in a legal battle between Yale New Haven Health and Prospect. The DOJ on Nov. 3 sent a civil investigative demand to Prospect, the for-profit health system confirmed in a June 27 filing in the Superior Court for the Judicial District of Hartford. (Kacik, 7/2)
San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF, Bonta Agree To Terms Allowing $100 Million SF Hospital Takeover
UCSF must continue charity care, adhere to price growth caps and invest hundreds of millions of dollars into St. Mary’s Medical Center and Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, the two struggling San Francisco hospitals it is acquiring for $100 million, under a settlement reached with the California attorney general. The settlement, announced Tuesday, resolves a complaint brought by the AG that sought to halt the deal over concerns it could harm people’s access to medical services. (Ho, 7/2)
Modern Healthcare: Why M&A Antitrust Scrutiny Overlooks Academic Medical Centers
Academic medical centers are acquiring community hospitals, sometimes while benefiting from a gap in federal antitrust law. Alabama, California, Pennsylvania and Virginia have seen academic medical centers expand, and analysts expect merger and acquisition activity to continue. (Kacik, 7/2)
Reuters: Walmart Has Held Talks To Sell Its Shuttered Medical Clinics, Fortune Reports
Walmart has held talks with potential buyers to sell its already shuttered medical clinics, Fortune reported on Tuesday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. In April, Walmart decided to close all 51 of its health clinics and shut its virtual healthcare operations, saying it could not see them as a sustainable business model to continue. The report added that some of the talks have involved health insurance companies, including Fortune 50 firm Humana. (7/2)
Modern Healthcare: Cedars-Sinai Health System Names Dr. Peter Slavin Next CEO
Cedars-Sinai Health System named Dr. Peter Slavin its next president and CEO, effective Oct. 1. Slavin, who also will be president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, succeeds Thomas Priselac, who is retiring after 30 years as president and CEO at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the subsequent Cedars-Sinai Health System. Priselac spent 45 years overall at the system, according to a Tuesday news release. (Hudson, 7/2)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Major St. Louis Hospital Expansions Contain Pandemic Lessons
Workers have begun on the foundation. Next year, the structure will rise out of the ground. In 2027, the building will be completed and doctors will begin seeing patients in the new children’s hospital on South Grand Boulevard, which will replace SSM Health’s Cardinal Glennon. (Merrilees, 7/2)
In global news —
Reuters: UK Baby Killer Letby Found Guilty Of Trying To Kill Another Child
Former nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty on Tuesday of trying to murder another newborn baby, adding to convictions last year that made her Britain's most prolific serial child killer of modern times. Letby, 34, was found guilty last August of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working as a nurse in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester, northern England. (Holden, 7/2)
