Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HCA Profit-Centric Management Drove Mission Hospital Doctors Away: Report
Asheville Watchdog: HCA Chased Mission Doctors Away And Made A ‘Debacle’ Of Emergency Department, Draft Academic Report Says
A new working draft study out of Wake Forest University is the most comprehensive analysis of the personnel crisis at Mission Hospital to date, using hundreds of interviews, documents and media reports to tell the story of a mass exodus of doctors, a poor working environment for nurses and a dangerous situation for patients, all brought on by profit-centered management. (Jones, 8/17)
Modern Healthcare: 6 Steward Health Care Hospitals Find New Owners In Massachusetts
Lifespan, Boston Medical Center and Lawrence General Hospital tentatively agreed to take over six Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts, state officials announced Friday. If the proposals are finalized, Providence, Rhode Island-based Lifespan would acquire and operate Morton Hospital in Taunton and St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) said in a news release. (Kacik, 8/16)
The Baltimore Sun: How CrowdStrike Affected The UM Medical System
For three days last month — after a botched update from the security software firm CrowdStrike brought down an estimated 8.5 million Windows devices around the world — a roving band of IT experts descended upon University of Maryland Medical System hospitals and outpatient centers to root out devices stricken by the dreaded “blue screen of death.” (Roberts, 8/19)
KFF Health News: Bipartisan Effort Paves Way For Reviving Shuttered Hospitals In Georgia
At the shuttered Atlanta Medical Center, a “Stronger Together” mural sends a hopeful message near a summer spray of hydrangeas. The campus was mostly quiet on a recent weekend, since AMC closed almost two years ago. A lone security vehicle sat behind a chain-link fence, and pedestrians passed by without even a glance. In the town of Cuthbert, some 160 miles away, the Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center also remains shut after closing four years ago, another Southern hospital casualty in a region dotted with them. (Miller and Whitehead, 8/19)
KFF Health News: Inside The Political Fight To Build A Rural Georgia Hospital
Ed Whitehouse stood alongside a state highway in rural Butts County, Georgia, and surveyed acres of rolling fields and forests near Interstate 75. Instead of farmland and trees, he envisioned a hospital. Whitehouse, a consultant for a local health care company that wants to build a hospital there with at least 150 beds, said the group could break ground within a year. The idea, he said, is to provide medical services beyond those currently provided by Wellstar Sylvan Grove Medical Center, an aging, nonprofit “critical access” hospital that offers limited services, including emergency care, rehabilitation, wound care, and imaging. (Miller and Whitehead, 8/19)
Also —
CNN: Georgia Man Sues Emory Hospital For Allegedly Losing Portion Of Removed Skull
A Georgia couple is suing a health care system after they say staff at one of its Atlanta hospitals misplaced a portion of the husband’s skull, which had been temporarily removed and later scheduled to be reimplanted, according to a complaint. (Williams, 8/17)
The Baltimore Sun: Black-Owned Radiology Practice Sues UM Medical System
A small, Black-owned radiology practice in Laurel is suing the University of Maryland Medical System for engaging in unfair and discriminatory bidding practices. The suit alleges UMMS inked a no-bid agreement with a Los Angeles-based radiology company to provide outpatient radiology services on its Laurel campus. (Roberts, 8/19)
