Baptist Health System has sold its 35% stake in Birmingham, AL-based Trinity Medical Center. Franklin, TN-based Community Health Systems now owns 100% of the 560-bed hospital. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Providence Health & Services has agreed to buy Tarzana (CA) Regional Medical Center from Tenet Healthcare Corp. for an undisclosed price. In 2004, Tenet disclosed that it intended to sell the medical center, but the chain had difficulty getting the real estate investment trust that owns the Tarzana building and campus to agree on the terms of a sale. Some doctors and medical staff have complained that Tenet failed to invest adequately in the hospital as it tried to sell the facility.
The quality of a patient's care will become the central focus of the National Health Service in England, the government has announced. Hospitals and care teams will be rewarded for achieving high standards, and patients will be able to use quality reports to help them choose where to go for treatment. The measures were announced as part of a major review into the future of the health service in England conducted by surgeon and Health Minister Lord Darzi.
An attorney and an accountant have been charged in an alleged medical insurance scam in which thousands of patients were allegedly recruited to undergo unnecessary procedures at a Buena Park, CA, surgical center in exchange for cash or gifts. The indictment brings to 19 the number of doctors, administrators, recruiters and others charged in the case surrounding the Unity Outpatient Surgery Center, which is now closed. The operation aggressively recruited more than 2,000 patients from around the country to have unneeded procedures, including colonoscopies. In exchange, prosecutors said, the patients were rewarded with cash, vacations and cosmetic surgery, including tummy tucks and face-lifts.
Robin Wittenstein, 48, currently the hospital's chief operating officer, has been tapped to become president and CEO UMDNJ-University Hospital in Newark, NJ. Moody's Investors Services in March warned UMDNJ that its credit rating could be cut, in large part due to operating losses and anticipated state aid cuts to University Hospital. The Moody's report cited a $32 million operating loss for the first six months of the budget year, and "a quick turnaround at the hospital is unlikely," the report said.
The 2008 state budget for California, in addition to the prospect of even deeper cuts in California's low-income health insurance program, has patients and providers bracing for reduced access to healthcare, including closures of medical facilities throughout the state. Lawmakers already approved one round of Medi-Cal cuts, and they now are weighing more cuts proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. But without a budget currently in place, most doctors, hospitals, pharmacists, and adult day care centers will not be paid for treating the poor, elderly and disabled. Democratic Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, called it an unfortunate situation and said she hoped to strike a budget deal sometime next month before healthcare providers endure more financial hardship.