Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Sloan Kettering's Widening Institutional Reckoning Over Ethics Crisis Snags Center's Top Executive
ProPublica/The New York Times: Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Chief Executive Resigns From Merck’s Board Of Directors
Dr. Craig B. Thompson, the chief executive of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said Tuesday that he would resign his seats on the boards of drug maker Merck and another public company, the latest fallout from a widening institutional reckoning over relationships between cancer center leaders and for-profit health care companies. Dr. Thompson has served on the board of Merck, the maker of the blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda, since 2008. He has been on the board of Charles River Laboratories, a publicly traded company that assists research in early drug development, since 2013. (Thomas and Ornstein, 10/2)
In other news concerning the health industry —
Modern Healthcare: Ascension Enters Final Stage Of Systemwide Rebranding
Ascension is rounding out its systemwide rebranding in the third and final phase of its marketing and advertising campaign, the nation's largest Catholic health system announced Tuesday. The last four markets to adopt the Ascension brand have about 100 care delivery sites; the markets are Baltimore's Ascension St. Agnes, Indiana's Ascension St. Vincent, Oklahoma's Ascension St. John and Ascension St. Thomas in Tennessee. (Kacik, 10/2)
The Baltimore Sun: Saint Agnes Hospital Adopts Ascension Name To Its Own
Saint Agnes Healthcare in Baltimore is changing its name as the health system that owns it tries to create more unified branding across all of its hospitals. The hospital will become Ascension Saint Agnes and adopt the Ascension logo. Saint Agnes has been part of St. Louis-based Ascension, the largest non-profit health system in the United States and world’s largest Catholic system, since it was formed in 1999. (McDaniels, 10/2)
Modern Healthcare: Losing UnitedHealth Contract Could Cut Into Envision's Revenue
Envision Healthcare rakes in up to one-quarter—or $1 billion—of its annual commercial revenue from UnitedHealth Group alone, the physician services provider's CEO told Modern Healthcare Tuesday. That dynamic puts pressure on Envision to retain its in-network status with the health insurance giant in 2019 and beyond, especially as it finalizes its acquisition by the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, an event Envision's CEO, Chris Holden, described as "imminent." UnitedHealth last week warned more than 700 hospitals that Envision will likely be out of network starting Jan. 1, but Holden said the company intends to remain in network. (Bannow, 10/2)
