Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Thousands Of NYC Nurses May Strike Next Week
Bloomberg: NYC Nurses Strike: Action Set For Next Week Over Hospital Staffing Levels
Five institutions, including units of the massive Mount Sinai Health System Inc., are still in talks toward a resolution with about 10,000 members of the New York State Nurses Association. Three others have reached tentative agreements. (Coleman-Lochner, 1/5)
Crain's New York Business: Mount Sinai's Nurse Strike Preparation Affects Surgeries, Patients
Staff at Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West have begun preparations ahead of a potential New York State Nurses Association strike Jan. 9, according to a memo reviewed by Crain’s. (Neber, 1/5)
In other news about health care personnel —
Modern Healthcare: FTC’s Proposed Noncompete Clause Ban Could Raise Physician Wages
Absent a federal policy, noncompete agreements have been governed by a patchwork of state laws. Physician noncompete clauses are generally unenforceable in California, North Dakota and Oklahoma. Twenty-one states have either prohibited most restrictive covenants or instituted time limits, payout requirements or other conditions, according to a 2020 report from the University of California, Hastings and the University of California, Berkeley. (Kacik, 1/5)
KHN: More Orthopedic Physicians Sell Out To Private Equity Firms, Raising Alarms About Costs And Quality
Dr. Paul Jeffords and his colleagues at Atlanta-based Resurgens Orthopaedics were worried about their ability to survive financially, even though their independent orthopedic practice was the largest in Georgia, with nearly 100 physicians. They nervously watched other physician practices sell out entirely to large hospital systems and health insurers. They refused to consider doing that. “It was an arms race,” Jeffords said, “and we knew we had to do something different if we wanted to remain independent and strong and offer good quality of care.” (Meyer, 1/6)
Stat: A Year After A Nurse’s Loss To Suicide, A Peer Support Network Grows
When Michael Odell, an intensive care nurse, died by suicide a year ago this month, it thrust attention on all that nurses had endured during the pandemic. Odell’s death also motivated his friends in the field as well as other nurses to build on that attention and his legacy. In the year since, they’ve been advocating for health care worker well-being and calling for health systems to offer more support for nurses, historically a group that’s received less consideration than doctors. They also started an organization called Don’t Clock Out. (Joseph, 1/6)
In corporate news —
Billings Gazette: Firm Recommends Closing, Moving Geriatric Unit From State Hospital
A consulting firm that eyed the state's health care facilities over the last nine months recommended on Thursday winding down a troubled geriatric unit at the Montana State Hospital and building two new facilities that would support the hospital's services. "I know (building two new facilities) is a very large conversation, but it is one of our recommendations," Diane Rafferty of Alvarez & Marsal told a budget subcommittee on Thursday. (Larson, 1/5)
Dallas Morning News: HCA’s Medical City Healthcare In Talks To Acquire Wise Health System
Dallas-based Medical City Healthcare, a division of HCA Healthcare, is in exclusive talks to acquire Wise Health System, the Decatur, Texas-based hospital system’s board of directors announced Tuesday. (Wolf, 1/5)
Modern Healthcare: VillageMD’s CEO 5 Priorities Following Summit Health-CityMD Deal
Walgreens Boots Alliance subsidiary VillageMD has acquired Summit Health-CityMD in an $8.9 billion deal, the company announced Thursday. The deal, which closed Jan. 3, creates a combined company with roughly 20,000 employees in more than 680 locations across 26 markets that provides primary, specialty and urgent care. (Hudson, 1/5)
