State Highlights: In Kansas, New Scrutiny Is Focused On Rural Hospitals’ ‘Profitable But Questionable Billing Schemes’; Minn. Vulnerable To Another Measles Outbreak

KCUR: Vulnerable Rural Hospitals Face Tough Decisions On Profitable But Questionable Billing Schemes
Rural hospitals such as Fulton Medical serve as a lifeline for health care and jobs in small towns but face dwindling revenues. Had it closed, Fulton Medical Center would have been the 20th rural hospital in the country to shutter in just the past two years. Nearly 700 of the nation's rural hospitals, about one-third of the facilities, are at risk of closing. Yet despite their notoriously slim operating margins, [management consultant named Jorge] Perez has purchased close to 20 rural hospitals in recent years in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Florida and elsewhere. By next year, he said he wants to own 50 of them. (Margolies and Sable-Smith, 11/1)

Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesota At Risk For Another Measles Outbreak, Health Official Warns
In August, the department declared an end to the state's largest measles outbreak in 30 years. ...Despite a push to increase vaccination rates in the Somali-American community during the summer outbreak, Ehresmann said vaccination rates remain extremely low in the Somali community. (Pugmire, 11/1)

The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com: Pa. Attorney General Agents Raid St. Francis Nursing Home In Darby
Darby Borough police and agents from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office on Wednesday raided St. Francis Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare, whose regular license was revoked by state regulators Sept. 1 after an August inspection found serious problems with care. The facility was allowed to continue operating during an appeal of the revocation. (Brubaker, 11/1)

The Associated Press: Family Of Cancer Victim Want Another Review In Talc Case
Survivors of a woman who claimed that Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder contributed to her ovarian cancer are challenging a Missouri appeals court ruling that threw out a $72 million award. The estate of Jacqueline Fox, of Birmingham, Alabama, was awarded the money in 2016 in the first of several cases in St. Louis claiming talc powder contributed to cancer. Fox died in 2015 at age 62. (11/1)

Denver Post: Treatment Center For Children In Pueblo Has License Revoked By State
A mental health and substance abuse treatment center for children in Pueblo has had its license revoked following complaints that children were abused and underfed. El Pueblo Boys & Girls Ranch was shut down in September and has now had its license revoked, Colorado Department of Human Services spokeswoman Nourie Boraie said. (Nicholson, 11/1)

San Jose Mercury News: San Jose: A Youth Psych Center At Valley Medical Center?
There’s been a severe shortage of inpatient psychiatric care facilities for troubled teens and youth for decades in Santa Clara County, and on Tuesday supervisors will hear a pitch to build a new specialty center on the Valley Medical Center campus to address that need. For years, kids who need short-term psychiatric hospitalization — usually because they’ve been deemed a hazard to themselves or others — have been shuttled to facilities in Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano and even Sacramento counties. (Kurhi, 11/1)

Sacramento Bee: Premature Birth Rates On The Rise In California, Study Shows
Premature birth is the leading cause of infant death, and preterm birth rates are on the rise in California, reflecting a nationwide trend, according to the 2017 Premature Birth Report Card released Wednesday by March of Dimes, a foundation focused on preventing birth defects and infant mortality. In 2016, California’s preterm birth rate was 8.6 percent, an increase from 2015 and a six-year high. (Sullivan, 11/1)

Georgia Health News: March Of Dimes Gives State Another ‘D’ On Preterm Births
A new March of Dimes report card gives Georgia a “D’’ grade for its preterm birth rate, which rose last year to 11.2 percent from 10.8 percent. ...The nation’s rate of preterm birth also rose in 2016, to an average of 9.8 percent. (Miller, 11/1)

Orlando Sentinel: Preterm Birth Rate Inches Up In Florida, Nation
fter several years of steady decline, premature birth rates are increasing again, in Florida and across the nation, according to the March of Dimes’ annual report released on Wednesday. In Orange County, the rate of premature births increased from 9.6 percent to 10.5 percent between 2015 and 2016, lowering the county’s letter grade from a C to a D. (Miller, 11/1)

Arizona Republic: UnitedHealthcare's Tricare Contract Loss Will Cost It 381 Phoenix Jobs
UnitedHealthcare will eliminate 381 jobs in metro Phoenix on Jan. 2 after losing a lucrative federal contract to provide health care to military families. The Minnesota-based health insurer this week informed employees their positions would be eliminated within 60 days, a notice required by the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. (Alltucker, 11/1)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Centers For Families And Children, Circle Health Services Announce Affiliation To Bolster Services
Circle Health Services, formerly the Free Medical Clinic of Greater Cleveland, and The Centers for Families and Children announced their affiliation this afternoon. The boards for the two organizations each voted unanimously last week to team resources. (Higgs, 11/1)

Boston Globe: Partners, Mass. Eye And Ear Merger Would Drive Up Costs, Watchdog Says
Partners HealthCare’s expansion plans suffered a setback Wednesday after a state watchdog agency warned that health care costs for consumers would rise significantly if Partners is allowed to acquire the specialty hospital Massachusetts Eye and Ear. The Health Policy Commission said Partners, the state’s largest health care network, is likely to seek higher reimbursements for care by Mass. Eye and Ear and its doctors if the deal goes through. (Dayal McCluskey, 11/1)

WBUR: Folding Mass. Eye And Ear Into Partners Network Could Hike Costs $21-$61 Million A Year
The proposed merger of Massachusetts Eye and Ear and Partners HealthCare would increases costs for consumers and businesses in the state by $20.8 to $61.2 million a year, according to a preliminary report from the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission. The lower estimate, $20.8 million, assumes Mass. Eye and Ear rates would rise to those paid Partners' community hospitals. (Bebinger, 11/1)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Owens & Minor Planning Largest Acquisition In Its History - A Surgical And Infection Prevention Supply Business For $710 Million
Owens & Minor Inc. announced the largest acquisition in the company’s history on Wednesday — a $710 million cash deal to buy the surgical and infection prevention business of Georgia-based Halyard Health Inc. ...The acquisition comes as Owens & Minor has been looking for ways to offset pricing and margin pressures in the health care supply industry that have hurt its financial results and weighed on its stock price, along with the loss in 2016 of a large contract with managed care provider Kaiser Permanente. (Reid Blackwell, 11/1)

The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com: Sale Of Girard Medical Center Has A New Closing Date
The sale of Girard Medical Center, part of the bankrupt North Philadelphia Health System, is now expected to be completed by Nov. 30, a month later than the original closing deadline, attorneys told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Magdeline D. Coleman Wednesday. Terms of the August sale agreement called for the buyer, Iron Stone Real Estate Partners, to reach an agreement to lease the property to the city, which in turn is expected to hire a unit of NHS Human Services to run drug-treatment and behavioral-health operations at the 801 W. Girard Ave. facility. Iron Stone agreed to pay $8.5 million. (Brubaker, 11/1)

KCUR: KU Health System-Ardent Partnership Finalizes Purchase Of St. Francis Health 
The University of Kansas Health System and Nashville-based Ardent Health Services announced Wednesday that they have completed the purchase of St. Francis Health in Topeka. St. Francis Health became a focal point of the Medicaid expansion debate in Kansas earlier this year, as sources said the state’s decision not to expand eligibility for the program complicated negotiations with potential buyers. The 378-bed Topeka hospital and medical clinics were near closure before KU Health System and Ardent partnered for the purchase. (Fox, 11/1)

San Diego Union-Times: San Diego-Area Surfers And Beachgoers Sickened After Tijuana Sewage Spill, Officials Say
Officials in Imperial Beach said Wednesday that sewage flowing up the coast from Tijuana fouled miles of shoreline over the weekend, severely sickening surfers and other beachgoers. Mayor Serge Dedina, who also fell ill, said he received no advance notice from officials in Mexico about the pollution. (Smith, 11/1)