Blake Farmer

More and more hospitals are contracting with private companies to run their emergency departments. To save money, many are increasingly relying on nurses and physician assistants instead of doctors.

Increasingly, private equity firms shape staffing decisions at hospital emergency rooms, research shows. One apparent effect: Hiring fewer doctors and more health care practitioners who earn far less.

Private equity groups are cashing in on rising rates of alcohol and drug addiction in the U.S. But they aren’t necessarily investing in centers with the best treatment standards, and they often cut extra services.

Clinics that care for long COVID patients are wrestling with how to handle a condition that is still poorly understood and has no widely accepted treatments.

The nation’s largest private health system has faced years of scrutiny over its share of ER patients who are admitted to the hospital. And now U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, a Democrat from New Jersey, is calling for a federal investigation.

Dying malls have turned out to be good places to care for the living. During the pandemic, mall-to-medicine transitions accelerated, with at least 10 health systems moving in where retail has moved out.

A new investment fund launched by one of the few Black venture capitalists in health care is focused on backing Black entrepreneurs. And the investors include some of the biggest names in for-profit health care.

State medical boards have an obligation to investigate complaints about doctors, such as those who spread COVID misinformation. But in Florida, Tennessee and other states, lawmakers are saying "not so fast."

Black Medicare patients and their families are not making the move to comfort care as often as white patients. Experts speculate it’s related to spiritual beliefs and mistrust in the medical system.

Medical bills are a leading reason people get stuck in a cycle of debt. The nonprofit Upsolve created an app it calls the “TurboTax of bankruptcy” to help people hit reset and rebuild their financial lives.