Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Houston Hospital Abruptly Closed Until Bill Is Paid
Houston Chronicle: Doctors, Patients Locked Out Of Heights Hospital
Doctors and patients were locked out of Heights Hospital on Monday after its management failed to pay rent, according to a letter posted on the door of the building. Heights Hospital, once an acute-care hospital, is now largely an outpatient clinic providing office space for primary care doctor and specialist offices. The lockout, which doctors said happened without notice, disrupted care, including COVID-19 tests. Doctors pulled a cart into the parking lot with some medical supplies to treat patients in the parking lot. (Carballo and Wu, 1/18)
KHOU.com: Heights Hospital Locked, Tenant Owes About $1 Million In Rent
On Monday, doctors and patients at The Heights Hospital arrived to find a baffling scene. They were locked out and a note on the door said the locks were changed because the tenant owed about $1 million in rent. "Please be advised that the door locks to the leased premises have been changed and tenant shall be excluded therefrom due to non-payment of rent," the note read. (McCord, 1/18)
ABC13 Houston: Heights Hospital Closes Because Owners Are Behind On Rent, Notice Says
Staff members said they were given no warning or opportunity to alert their patients or collect their personal items from inside. "I tried to contact the owners," said Dr. Felicity Mack, who is listed as a physician at the hospital. "They aren't responding. The title company is not responding. We are really not getting any answers, but at the end of the day, my primary concern, like I said, is my patients." Mack attempted to treat patients who needed help with wound care in the parking lot on Monday, but was unable to get any other equipment from inside to treat others, like Linda Fisher. (Hatfield, 1/18)
In other health care industry news —
Modern Healthcare: Federal Regulators Ask Insurers For Claims Data
Antitrust regulators have asked six health insurers for claims data as they study the impact of physician consolidation. The Federal Trade Commission's request late Thursday is part of the FTC's revamp of its merger retrospective program, given the lack of detailed information on how physician practice mergers and hospital acquisitions of physicians affect competition, the commission said. Regulators hope the analysis determines whether the agency's threshold for bringing an enforcement action in a merger case has been too permissive. (Kacik, 1/15)
