Private Equity Had Strong Year In Health Care Despite 2022 ‘Headwinds’
Modern Healthcare reports that there was a roughly 15% bump in private equity health care services deals in 2022 over 2021. Separately, CVS is said to be near a $10.5 billion deal to acquire Oak Street Health Inc. Staff shortages, data breaches, and quality of care matters are among other news.
Modern Healthcare:
Headwinds Didn't Quell Healthcare Private Equity Deals In 2022
Private equity firms had one of their strongest years yet for healthcare services deal activity in 2022, according to an analysis PitchBook published Monday. An estimated 863 healthcare services private equity deals were announced or closed last year. That's a nearly 15% decrease from 2021, but a more than 18% increase from 2020, the market research firm reported. PitchBook extrapolated the annual estimate using recorded deals through the third quarter and historical data to approximate fourth quarter transactions. (Hudson, 2/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
CVS Nearing $10.5 Billion Deal For Primary-Care Provider Oak Street Health
CVS Health Corp. is close to an agreement to acquire Oak Street Health Inc. for about $10.5 billion including debt, a deal that would rapidly expand the big healthcare company’s footprint of primary-care doctors with a large network of senior-focused clinics, according to people with knowledge of the matter. (Mathews, Thomas and Cooper, 2/6)
On staff shortages —
Stateline:
States Strive To Reverse Shortage Of Paramedics, EMTs
Last year, the turnover rate for full-time emergency medical technicians, known as EMTs, was 36% and for full-time paramedics, it was 27%, according to an American Ambulance Association survey. The turnover rate includes both resignations and firings, but nearly all of the EMTs and paramedics who left did so voluntarily. More than one-third of new hires don’t last through their first year, the survey found. (Mercer, 2/6)
The Baltimore Sun:
Maryland Hospitals Launch Marketing Campaign To Grow Workforce
The Maryland Hospital Association and the state’s 60 hospitals and health systems launched a digital marketing campaign Monday to encourage students and others seeking new opportunities to join the health care field. The campaign, slugged as JoinMdHealth, includes outreach on social media, as well as a website that lists open health care jobs across the state, education requirements for certain hospital jobs, and advice on how to afford higher education. (Roberts, 2/7)
Modern Healthcare:
Remote Prescribing In Limbo As Federal COVID-19 Emergency Ends
The coming end of the COVID-19 public health emergency and pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities could rattle an already besieged behavioral health system and force providers to make ethical decisions. The public health emergency, which President Biden will end May 11, allowed clinicians to prescribe controlled substance medications via telehealth without an office visit. (Perna and Turner, 2/6)
On data breaches —
AP:
Florida Hospital Taking Expectant Moms, Delaying Surgeries
A major regional hospital system based in northern Florida resumed seeing patients at its clinical practices on Monday, days after a security problem forced it to take its IT network offline. But Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare was still being forced to use paper documentation, and non-emergency surgeries and out-patient procedures were canceled on Monday. (2/6)
Reuters:
Three U.S. Data Breaches Show Varied Healthcare Exposure Risks
Three recent data breaches from across the United States show that the risks of data breaches can come from multiple sources for healthcare providers. Employees, third-party vendor tools and cybercriminals all create data breach risks. (Berry, 2/6)
On quality of care —
Bay Area News Group:
Major Violations Found At Santa Clara County’s Main Hospital
State regulators have discovered a slew of violations at Santa Clara County’s main hospital in San Jose, according to documents obtained by the Bay Area News Group. The deficiencies, identified in an October survey of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, puts the hospital at risk of losing its ability to receive Medicare reimbursements, which would leave the facility in a financially perilous position. (Greschler, 2/6)
AP:
Hurricane Deaths At Nursing Home: Accident Or Manslaughter?
A Florida nursing home administrator charged with causing the overheating deaths of nine patients after Hurricane Irma in 2017 went on trial Monday, with a prosecutor calling him a “captain who abandoned ship” while his attorney said he’s a “scapegoat” for failures of the electric company to restore power. Prosecutor Chris Killoran told the six-member jury that Jorge Carballo is guilty of manslaughter because he failed to give adequate direction to his staff at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills after power to the facility’s air conditioning system was lost. He said Carballo went home even as it became “ridiculously hot” inside the 150-bed, two-story facility and failed to order his patients’ evacuation to Memorial Regional Hospital across the street, which had working air conditioning. (Spencer, 2/6)
North Carolina Health News:
Some Providers Ignore Psych Patients' Directives
In late summer 2021, Sue came home from work to find her 24-year-old son Michael confused. He shrugged in response to most questions and muttered words that didn’t make much sense. Sue knew something was wrong because this wasn’t the first time this had happened. Michael was involved in the Eagle program at Atrium Health, an outpatient project designed to support young people in Charlotte after an initial psychotic episode. Sue called the Eagle program nurse, and they suggested that Michael go to the hospital before his symptoms got worse. (Knopf, 2/7)
CNN:
An 82-Year-Old Woman Was Found Alive At A New York Funeral Home After She Was Pronounced Dead Hours Earlier, Police Say
An 82-year-old woman who’d been pronounced dead at nursing home on Long Island, New York, was found to be alive nearly three hours later at a funeral home, authorities said, spurring investigations by police and health officials. (Frehse, 2/7)
Bangor Daily News:
Widow Sues Bangor Hospital Claiming Wrong Medication Killed Her Husband
The widow of a Winterport composer has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor claiming that Ralph “Russ” Joseph Lombardi died in 2021 when he was given medication intended for another patient. The medication, cisatracurium, paralyzes the skeletal muscles, including those in the diaphragm that are necessary for spontaneous breathing, the complaint said. (Harrison, 2/6)
In obituaries —
The Washington Post:
Charles Silverstein, Who Helped Declassify Homosexuality As Illness, Dies At 87
Charles Silverstein, a psychologist who helped achieve one of the most significant victories of the gay rights movement by persuading the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness, died Jan. 30 at his home in New York City. He was 87. He had lung cancer, said his executor, Aron Berlinger. (Langer, 2/7)
