Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Shriners Children's Hospital To Close In Tampa
Health News Florida: Shriners Hospitals For Children Is Closing Its Tampa Facility
Shriners Hospitals for Children is closing its only facility in Florida. In a statement, the organization said its outpatient clinic on the University of South Florida's Tampa campus closes April 1. In a statement, Shriners spokesman Mel Bower said the organization is working on identifying ways to continue providing patient care in the region. "As health care has evolved from inpatient care to outpatient focused models of care, we have already started transitioning portions of our care to local and state affiliates who complement our services locally and throughout the state of Florida," Bower said in the statement. (2/4)
AP: UChicago Medicine To Build $663M Cancer Hospital In City
A $633 million and 500,000-square-foot cancer hospital through University of Chicago Medicine has been pitched for the city’s South Side. Hospital officials have submitted an application for site planning to the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board. Construction wouldn’t begin until next year and the hospital could open to patients by 2026. (2/6)
Modern Healthcare: Home Care Startup ConcertoCare Nabs $105 Million To Expand Palliative Services
ConcertoCare raised a $105 million to expand its home care services beyond the eight states where it currently operates, the company announced on Thursday. Wells Fargo Capital led the Series B round, with participation from Obvious Ventures, Vast Ventures, the Schusterman Family Foundation, SteelSky Ventures, Pennington Partners and Deerfield Management. The startup has raised nearly $150 million in total funding. (Tepper, 2/4)
Modern Healthcare: OU Health Names Inaugural CEO
Dr. Richard Lofgren was named CEO of OU Health, the integrated academic health system announced Friday. Lofgren, the longtime chief executive at UC Health in Cincinnati, will lead the newly formed OU Health, which was created last year after OU Medicine hospitals and its affiliated physicians merged. Prior to UC Health, Lofgren was an executive at University HealthSystem Consortium, which has since been acquired by the group purchasing organization Vizient. (Kacik, 2/4)
In obituaries —
The Boston Globe: Dr. Herbert Benson, Who Documented And Promoted Meditation’s Health Benefits, Dies At 86
For those who had doubts about trying to reap the medical benefits of what he dubbed “the relaxation response,” Dr. Herbert Benson had a ready answer. “It’s not a drug, there are no side effects, and it’s cheap, other than your time,” he told the Globe in 2011. “It changes your genes’ activity. What could be more profound than that?” A pioneer in studying and extolling the medical benefits of meditation, Dr. Benson died of heart disease and kidney failure Thursday in Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He was 86 and lived in Brookline. (Marquard, 2/6)
