Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hospitals In 10 States Cut Staff Amid Fears Driven By Financial And Political Uncertainty
Stat: Facing A Financial Squeeze, Hospitals Nationwide Are Cutting Jobs
Hospitals nationwide are cutting jobs amid a whirlwind of financial pressures — and sharp fears about the direction Republicans will steer health care policy. Just in the past month, hospitals in 10 states, from Kentucky to Minnesota to New Mexico, have made public plans for staff reductions. In the largest such announcement, a prominent Boston hospital — Brigham and Women’s, which is affiliated with Harvard — last week said it will offer voluntary buyouts to 1,600 workers and may lay off staff later in the year. (Ross, 4/30)
Modern Healthcare: Tenet And CHS Resume Divestitures, Operating Losses
Tenet Healthcare Corp. and Community Health Systems each said they will sell more hospitals as their operating losses piled up in the first quarter. Dallas-based Tenet said Monday it had agreed to sell its three hospitals in Houston to HCA Holdings for about $725 million. The health system said in January that it intended to focus its capital and management resources on ambulatory care and hub markets where it has first- and second-place market share or a strong, profitable niche. The divestiture comes on the heels of a first-quarter operating loss of $52 million. (Barkholz, 5/1)
Houston Chronicle: West Houston Hospital To Shutter, Lay Off Staff
Kindred Hospital Town and Country in West Houston notified the Texas Workforce Commission on Friday that it would eliminate all 133 staff positions beginning June 27. In a statement issued Monday, Kindred said it then plans to close the hospital. It also said it has stopped accepting new patients. The company, the nation's largest long-term acute care provider, in 2016 closed Houston locations on Holcombe Blvd. and in Baytown. In 2014 it closed hospitals in Channelview and north Houston. (Baddour, 5/1)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Nearly Half Of Region's Hospitals Report Operating Losses
Nearly half of the region’s hospitals operated at a loss for the last six months of 2016, a new survey has found, with small and rural hospitals hit hardest. In all, 28 of 59 responding hospitals, or 48 percent, said losses from providing patient care outpaced revenue from treating patients. Meanwhile, 17 of 23 hospitals, or 74 percent, with 100 or fewer beds recorded losses .... A.J. Harper, president of the Healthcare Council of Western Pennsylvania, which conducted the survey, said in a release Monday, “There are many reasons” for the falling operating margins, most notably the 71 percent of admitted patients covered by government programs. Reimbursements from programs such as Medicare and Medicaid do not cover hospitals’ costs for providing care, he said. (Twedt, 5/2)
The Washington Post: D.C.’s Troubled United Medical Center May Need A Taxpayer Bailout — Again
United Medical Center, the troubled Southeast Washington hospital that has struggled for decades to provide medical care to some of the city’s poorest residents, has hit a stretch of financial turbulence that puts it at risk of needing a taxpayer bailout — again. (Jamison, 5/1)
