Reports suggesting that a sale to private-equity firm Sycamore Partners was still in play boosted the stock last week. On Monday, credit-information provider Octus said on the social media platform X that "Morgan Stanley, UBS, and private lenders are structuring a $10 billion package to back Sycamore Partners' potential buyout," suggesting further progress toward a deal.
A state Supreme Court judge on Monday cleared the way for the Mount Sinai Health System to close Beth Israel in Downtown Manhattan, after the move was put on hold for months at the behest of a community coalition seeking to save the hospital. Judge Jeffrey Pearlman dismissed a lawsuit filed in August by a community coalition challenging the closing. Following the judge's decision, Mount Sinai spokesperson Loren Riegelhaupt said the health system would "immediately" begin implementing the closure plan, which was first announced in fall 2023 and was initially planned for July 2024.
A shooting this weekend at a York hospital that killed a police officer and wounded five others, coupled with three separate attacks in Scranton hospitals within the past week, highlight the rising violence against U.S. health care workers and the challenge of protecting them.
Almost half of all primary care physicians are affiliated with hospitals, and an increasing number of physician practices are being acquired and consolidated by private equity firms, according to a recent study by Brown researchers. Compared to independent firms, these consolidated firms may lead to increased costs and limit access to primary care providers for patients.
The gunman who held intensive care unit staff hostage at UPMC Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania before killing a police officer and injuring five other people Saturday believed that more could have been done to save his wife, who was on life support for a terminal illness, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. Diogenes Archangel-Ortiz, 49, was removed from the hospital by security the previous night after becoming irate and emotionally overwrought following a diagnosis that there was no other treatment available for his wife. It is not clear whether she has died.
Beyond public relations concerns, the company is facing potential shareholder lawsuits and multiple government investigations, including a DOJ antitrust probe focused on how it uses its physician workforce to benefit its insurance business. While it largely remains in a defensive crouch, UnitedHealth has begun pushing back, enlisting libel attorneys to go after critics on social media, attempting to squelch dissent from shareholders, and publicly blaming hospitals and drug companies for high prices. It is also moving to align itself with the new Trump administration.