Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hospitals In At Least 3 States Working To Recover From Cyberattack
Axios: Cyberattack Hits Hospitals Across Three States
Hospitals and outpatient facilities in at least three states are still working to restore their computer systems after a cyberattack hit their parent company, forcing some locations to shut down for days. Prospect Medical Holdings, a Los Angeles-based private equity company, which operates 16 hospitals and 165 outpatient facilities across California, Texas, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania, announced it sustained an attack on Thursday evening, the Associated Press reported. (Reed, 8/7)
In other hospital news —
AP: Attacks At US Hospitals Show Why Health Care Is One Of The Nation’s Most Violent Fields
The shooting at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in Portland was part of a wave of gun violence sweeping through U.S. hospitals and medical centers, which have struggled to adapt to the growing threats. Such attacks have helped make health care one of the nation’s most violent fields. Data shows American health care workers now suffer more nonfatal injuries from workplace violence than workers in any other profession, including law enforcement. (Boone, 8/7)
AP: A Hospital In A Rural North Carolina County With A Declining Population Has Closed Its Doors
rural eastern North Carolina hospital has closed its doors, largely the result of what its operators described as a declining surrounding population that was going elsewhere for medical care. Martin General Hospital in Williamston suspended operations on Thursday and is filing for bankruptcy, according to a hospital news release. (8/4)
Modern Healthcare: Mass General Brigham Bets Big On Hospital-At-Home
Mass General Brigham sees hospital-at-home care as a big part of its long-term future. In the short term, the nonprofit health system's plan depends on a favorable ruling from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Boston-based provider says it is on track to shift 10% of inpatient care to hospital-at-home—through which acute care is delivered in-home and virtually and patients are connected to remote monitoring—within five years. In the coming weeks, Mass General Brigham anticipates word from CMS about regulatory waivers that would enable that expansion by OK'ing Medicare reimbursements for these services that match payments for inpatient care. (Eastabrook, 8/7)
In personnel news —
AP: Nurses At New Jersey's Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Go On Strike
Nearly 2,000 nurses at one of New Jersey’s biggest hospitals have gone on a labor strike. Nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital picketed the New Brunswick hospital on Friday. (8/4)
Stat: Community Health Workers Fight For Their Place In The System
A nurse supervisor at Montefiore Comprehensive Health Care Center in the Bronx was delivering her start-of-shift updates and mantras — “Covid is not finished with us … clean, clean, clean!”— to the clinicians and administrative staff bunched up nearby. Hawa Abraham, not one or the other, stood among them. It was going to be another busy day at the clinic, with 150 patients expected, and Abraham, a community health worker, would be seeing several herself. (Castillo, 8/7)
Modern Healthcare: Steve Jobs' Son, Healthmap Headline Funding Rounds
Reed Jobs, the son of deceased Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, is starting an investment fund that will focus on cancer care. The fund, named Yosemite, will invest in therapeutics, diagnostics and digital health around the oncology ecosystem. The company will fund early-stage companies and provide grants to emerging research. (Turner, 8/4)
Also —
Stat: Doctors Push To Include Dialysis Machines In Emergency Stockpile
Ariel Brigham was drowning. Hurricane Harvey had dumped over 50 inches of rain across Houston and coastal Texas, leaving the then-26-year-old Texan stranded in her flooded apartment. But what was killing Brigham wasn’t water from the hurricane. It was the excess fluid and toxins building up in her own body. Brigham had kidney failure, and she relied on dialysis three times each week to remove waste from her blood. Without regular dialysis treatments, she could die. But the extreme flooding from Harvey in August 2017 had closed most of the region’s dialysis clinics and made travel to other clinics and emergency rooms impossible, even by ambulance. All Brigham could do was wait for the water to recede. (Arnold, 8/7)
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Botched MountainView Heart Procedure Leads To Patient’s Death, Lawsuit Alleges
A mechanical malfunction caused a heart operation to be aborted, according to a new medical malpractice lawsuit filed on behalf of the patient who later died from related complications. On July 25, 2022, Francisco Echeverri was admitted to MountainView Hospital for an aortic valve replacement operation. About an hour and a half after Echeverri was intubated, a surgical drape got caught in a piece of equipment which caused it to malfunction, according to a lawsuit filed in District Court late last month. (Wilson, 8/5)
Modern Healthcare: Clover Health Achieves Nasdaq Listing Compliance Again
Clover Health's financial position took a turn for the better this week after the insurance company said it had regained compliance with the Nasdaq Stock Market's listing standards. The insurance company announced in April that it needed to raise its share prices to $1 and hold that value for 10 consecutive days by Oct. 17 in order to remain listed on the exchange. Clover Health, which sells Medicare Advantage plans and physician enablement technology, had been mulling a reverse stock split and share reduction proposal and had scheduled a shareholder vote on the matter for Aug. 30. The carrier will now reevaluate the proposals, the insurance company said in a news release issued after Thursday's market close. (Tepper, 8/4)
KFF Health News: As Many American Cities Get Hotter, Health Systems Face Off Against Heatstroke
As the hour crept past three in the afternoon, New Orleans’ French Quarter was devoid of tourists and locals alike. The heat index was over 105 degrees. New Orleans Emergency Medical Services has been busy this summer, responding to heat-related emergency calls and transporting patients to nearby hospitals. (Hawkins, 8/7)
KFF Health News: The NIH Ices A Research Project. Is It Self-Censorship?
Many Americans don’t understand a lot about their health. Whether due to people believing conspiracy theories or simply walking out of their doctor’s offices without a good idea of what was said, communicating what scientists know has been a long-standing challenge. The problem has gotten particularly acute with a recent wave of misinformation. And when Francis Collins led the National Institutes of Health, the world’s premier medical research agency, he thought he had a solution: to study health communications broadly. “We basically have seen the accurate medical information overtaken, all too often, by the inaccurate conspiracies and false information on social media. It’s a whole other world out there,” he said in 2021 as part of a farewell media tour. (Tahir, 8/7)
