Attorney General Xavier Becerra, however, says he has a responsibility to ensure the conditions of the sale are met. “The conditions include the requirement to have an emergency room, inpatient facility beds, intensive care services, and NICU [neonatal intensive care unit]. The Attorney General is fighting to ensure these conditions are enforced,” his office said. News on hospitals also comes from Texas, New Hampshire, Louisiana and Kansas, as well.
San Jose Mercury News: Attorney General’s Attempt To Block Hospital Sales Is About ‘Power And Control,’ Say County Officials
Santa Clara County officials on Thursday publicly rebuked Attorney General Xavier Becerra for trying to block their purchase of two bankrupt local hospitals. At a press conference, county CEO Jeff Smith accused the attorney general of caring more about maintaining “power and control” over regulations than south county residents’ access to public hospitals. (Vo, 1/24)
Austin American Statesman: Psychiatric Hospital Facing Lawsuit, State Fine
Seahorn’s lawsuit comes at a time when the five-year-old hospital is facing scrutiny by state regulators. The Health and Human Services Commission fined the hospital $180,000 earlier this month after officials say it failed to monitor patients appropriately, which allowed two patients to have sex. (Ball, 1/24)
Concord Monitor: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Proposes Merger With Manchester-Based Health System
Two of New Hampshire’s largest hospitals, including Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, will become part of one health system if a merger announced Thursday goes through. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health intends to combine forces with GraniteOne Health, the health care system that includes the Manchester-based Catholic Medical Center, according to a letter of intent the two have signed. The proposal would give Lebanon-based Dartmouth a far stronger presence in New Hampshire’s southern tier, where it already operates clinics and has sought to merge before. (Doyle-Burr, 1/24)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Charity Hospital Developer Details Housing Proposal Ahead Of LSU Vote
The LSU Board of Supervisors has scheduled a vote for Friday (Jan. 25) to move forward with a proposal to redevelop the vacant Charity Hospital in downtown New Orleans. The proposal includes an $11.8 million upfront lease payment from developer 1532 Tulane Partners Inc. The vote is largely procedural. With the board’s approval, the developer will be able to move forward with the due diligence process to confirm the building’s investment value. That process and negotiations over the overall cost and terms of the lease are expected to be completed in a “matter of a few months,” according to documentation attached to the board’s Friday agenda. (Litten, 1/24)
Dallas Morning News: Texas Health Resources Lays Off 720 Workers Across North Texas
One of Dallas-Fort Worth’s biggest hospital systems is laying off about 720 employees. Arlington-based Texas Health Resources announced the layoffs late Thursday, which it said amount to 3 percent of its 24,000 employees. …Texas Health, one of the nation’s largest faith-based nonprofit health systems, operates 29 hospitals, five short-stay facilities, two behavioral health hospitals, two rehabilitation hospitals and one transitional care hospital in 16 North Texas counties. It also plans to open two new hospitals in the next two years. (O’Donnell, 1/24)
KCUR: AdventHealth Announces It Will Build An 85-Bed Hospital In South Overland Park
The health system formerly known as Shawnee Mission Health is expanding its presence in Johnson County, saying it will break ground in the fall on an 85-bed hospital in south Overland Park, Kansas. AdventHealth, as it rebranded itself earlier this month, also plans to open an outpatient health facility later this year at the corner of College Boulevard and Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park and a medical office building in Merriam, Kansas. (Margolies, 1/24)
California Healthline: Transparent Hospital Pricing Exposes Wild Fluctuation, Even Within Miles
The federal government’s new rule requiring hospitals to post prices for their services is intended to allow patients to shop around and compare prices, a step toward price transparency that California has mandated since 2005. California Healthline examined the price lists — known in hospital lingo as “chargemasters” — of four large acute care hospitals in Oakland, Calif., and another four in Los Angeles, using the documents California hospitals have been reporting annually to the California Department of Public Health — the same information the federal government is now requiring all hospitals to post on their websites. (Rowan, 1/24)
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