Fundraising For Nonprofit Providers To Help Offset Low Operating Margins
Post-pandemic operating margins remain low. With the National Institutes of Health — a major source of grant funding — facing an uncertain future under the incoming administration, nonprofit health systems are turning to large donors for help.
Modern Healthcare:
Hospital Fundraising Increases To Offset Lower Operating Margins
Nonprofit health systems, cancer centers and pediatric hospitals are increasingly depending on big donors to boost oncology, cardiology and other services. Many nonprofit providers have ramped up investment in fundraising campaigns, often targeting high-profile donors, as operating margins have been slow to recover in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Philanthropy is poised to play a bigger role in those systems' finances as other sources of revenue wane and expenses remain relatively high, analysts and provider executives said. (Kacik, 11/21)
The Mercury News:
Kaiser Preps Construction Project For Modern Hospital In San Jose
Construction of a new state-of-the-art Kaiser Permanente hospital in San Jose is underway following a groundbreaking for an ultra-modern complex to replace its aging medical center nearby. The hospital is being built at the corner of Hospital Parkway and International Circle on the same Santa Teresa Kaiser campus in south San Jose where the 50-year-old current hospital is located. (Avalos, 11/21)
WJCT:
UF Health Jacksonville Breaks Ground On $90 Million Trauma Center Expansion
UF Health Jacksonville broke ground Thursday on an expanded trauma center named for former hospital CEO Leon L. Haley Jr. Haley was 56 when he died in July 2021 after he was thrown from a personal watercraft in the Palm Beach Inlet. The $90 million Leon L. Haley Jr. Emergency and Trauma Center will add 35,000 square feet to the facility and increase the beds from 78 to 125. (Scanlan, 11/21)
Modern Healthcare:
CommonSpirit Health, University Of Utah Form Clinical Partnership
CommonSpirit Health and the University of Utah Health are partnering to expand care across the Beehive State. Clinicians from University of Utah will be integrated into five CommonSpirit hospitals — Holy Cross Hospital-Davis, Holy Cross Hospital-Jordan Valley, Holy Cross Hospital-Jordan Valley West, Holy Cross Hospital-Mountain Point and Holy Cross Hospital-Salt Lake — in addition to adding more capacity for services in the region, according to a Wednesday news release. (Hudson, 11/21)
On health care personnel —
Modern Healthcare:
Headspace Layoffs Hit 13% Of Staff
Headspace, a digital mental health "unicorn," laid off 13% of its staff. A spokesperson on Thursday declined to say how many employees were affected. In June 2023 Headspace laid off 181 employees, or 15% of its staff. (Turner, 11/21)
The Boston Globe:
About 160 Cambridge Health Alliance Clinicians Unionize
Adding to the steady drumbeat of health care labor organizing in New England, about 160 clinicians at Cambridge Health Alliance on Thursday informed the state that they were forming a union to push back against what they say have become unsustainable, burnout-inducing working conditions. The bargaining unit includes physicians, psychologists, and physician associates in a range of fields at the safety-net health system. (Gerber, 11/21)
Crain's Chicago Business:
AMA President-Elect Bobby Mukkamala Diagnosed With Brain Tumor
AMA President-elect Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, has been diagnosed with a brain tumor and plans to undergo surgery in December, the Chicago-based physicians organization announced yesterday. Mukkamala, 53, an otolaryngologist and head-and-neck surgeon from Flint, Mich., is scheduled to take over as AMA president in June. (Asplund, 11/21)
NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth:
Former Anesthesiologist Found Guilty Of Tampering With IV Bags Sentenced To Prison
A former Dallas anesthesiologist found guilty earlier this year of tampering with IV bags has been sentenced to 190 years behind bars on Wednesday morning. "He got exactly what he deserved," said John Kaspar, the widower of one of the victims. Dr. Raynaldo Riviera Ortiz Jr., 60, was accused of injecting heart-stopping drugs into five IV bags and placing them in a warming bin for other medical staff to use on their patients at Baylor Scott & White’s SurgiCare in North Dallas over five days in August 2022. (Beausoleil and Heinz, 11/20)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Owner Of Home Health Care Firm Accused Of $800,000 Fraud
A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted the owner of a local home health care company with defrauding the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Missouri Medicaid program out of more than $800,000. Natavia Boyd-Wells, 40, was charged with four counts of wire fraud and two counts of making false statements. (Kull, 11/21)
Also —
Reuters:
First Double Lung Transplant Performed With Help From A Robot
A New York hospital says it has performed the first fully robotic double lung transplant. The procedure is aimed at speeding up the healing process and shortening hospital stays. It builds on other minimally invasive procedures; back in 2022, Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles completed a partially robotic single lung transfer. And here at the NYU Langone Health Center on the East Side of Manhattan, doctors announced in September that they had performed the first fully robotic single lung transplant. The double lung procedure was conducted on 57-year-old resident of upstate New York, Cheryl Mehrkar, on Oct. 22. (Nathanson and Fastenberg, 11/21)
