Envision Healthcare Corp, a U.S. provider of physicians and other medical staff owned by buyout firm KKR & Co Inc, has hired a financial adviser to explore ways to restructure its $7.5 billion debt pile, people familiar with the matter said.
N95 mask producer 3M filed a federal lawsuit in New York on Friday, alleging that another company tried to sell its respirators at wildly inflated prices. According to 3M, New Jersey-based Performance Supply LLC falsely claimed to be affiliated with 3M and offered to sell about $45 million worth of N95 respirators to New York City officials at prices 500% to 600% above list price.
In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has rolled back regulations on hospitals and health care providers. Hospitals are no longer barred from treating COVID-19 patients in outpatient facilities. The feds are also freeing nurse practitioners, physician assistants and medical residents to provide more care on their own. CMS is even issuing waivers that allow hospitals to provide meals, laundry service and child care while health care personnel are working.
A new hospital in Derby is seeking $3 million in loan guarantees from Sedgwick County and the city of Derby to try to right itself financially amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to hospital and county officials. With finances stressed by delays in setting up government health care payments — and then depressed patient counts due to the threat of COVID-19 — Rock Regional Hospital is asking the county and Derby to act as guarantors for $3 million of a $5 million bank loan the hospital is applying for, officials said.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other Democrats are proposing to give doctors, nurses and other essential workers, such as grocery store clerks, up to $25,000 in hazard pay as part of the phase four coronavirus relief bill.
Florida safety net hospitals want Gov. Ron DeSantis to use a portion of $1.6 billion in increased federal Medicaid funds coming to Florida to increase the amount Medicaid reimburses hospitals for providing obstetrical care and treating COVID-19 patients. The request comes as hospitals have stopped non-essential health procedures and have shut down other services to prepare for a surge in COVID-19 infected patients.