A potential strike between nurses and the University of Michigan Health-Sparrow system fits a post-pandemic pattern of nurses asking for more, which may now be a recurring feature of healthcare, a Wayne State University expert said. Ramona Benkert, Wayne State's nursing dean, said the pandemic played a major role in reshaping how nurses view themselves in the healthcare sector, highlighting their value while more is being asked of them.
Rochester Regional Health is working to cut its spending by temporarily closing hospital beds due to the latest result of a nursing shortage in the healthcare system. RGH President Tammy Snyder says recruitment went well in 2024. Now, hospital leaders are looking at what they can do to attract and retain nurses while cutting down on spending. That includes reducing how much the hospital spends on agency nurses. Snyder says every agency RN gets offered permanent employment or another opportunity at the hospital. Outside of that, RGH is working to attract the next generation of nurses. "We also are partnering with our local nursing schools. Those nursing students come to RGH as a part of their nursing training," said Snyder. "We wanna make sure that they have a fantastic experience with us so that they choose RGH as their employer after graduation."
Four months after the Nashoba Valley Medical Center in North Central Massachusetts shuttered, emergency medical services in the surrounding communities are "on the verge of collapse," 13 local fire chiefs wrote in a recent letter to the state. The letter, sent Dec. 27 from the chiefs, their towns' leaders, and state lawmakers, urged Governor Maura Healey's administration to include in the state's budget proposals $9.6 million over the next two fiscal years to increase emergency response staffing and sustain overtime pay. The increasingly dire situation described in the letter highlights the continuing impact of the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care, the for-profit company that closed both the Nashoba Valley hospital in Ayer and Carney Hospital in Dorchester on Aug. 31, while in the process of selling its other Massachusetts hospitals to new operators.
Central Maine Healthcare has entered into an agreement to be purchased by the California-based non profit Prime Healthcare Foundation. Under the deal, still pending regulatory review, Prime will invest $150 million in Central Maine Healthcare.
Transcarent CEO Glen Tullman spent much of 2024 hinting that his health benefits upstart might be shopping around for acquisitions, and just over a week into the new year, he’s making good on it: Transcarent on Wednesday announced it will buy Accolade, another benefits company, for $621 million — more than double Accolade’s value on the stock market the day before.