hospital industry

Wesley Chapel will soon have three general hospitals within a five-minute drive, part of a boom unleashed when the state dropped a requirement that companies obtain approval to open new hospitals. Where are they building? What are the effects?

Hospitals are facing mixed reviews regarding their efforts to comply with a federal requirement that they post information about prices related to nearly every health care service they provide.

It’s about the money — on both sides — as arguments swirl about patient safety, rising prices, and paying back on-the-job training.

Sandeep Swami tried to dispute a $1,300 “facility fee” with the hospital, his insurer, a bill-mediation service provided by his employer, and finally a debt collector. He didn’t win, but he learned valuable lessons.

Hospitals using volunteers is commonplace. But some labor experts argue that deploying unpaid workers to do tasks that benefits the bottom line lets for-profit facilities skirt federal laws, deprives employees of work, and potentially exploits the volunteers.

Doctors, consumer advocates, and some lawmakers are looking forward to a California lawsuit against private equity-backed Envision Healthcare. The case is part of a multistate effort to enforce rules banning corporate ownership of physician practices.

Hospitals have depended on travel nurses, especially during COVID surges. Now some larger systems, reeling from high contract labor costs, have created staffing units, aiming to lure nurses who want more work flexibility and better pay than staff RNs.

The U.S. is experiencing an unusual spate of childhood RSV infections. But the critical shortage of beds to treat ailing children stems from structural problems in pediatric care that have been brewing for years.

Experts said the findings in a North Carolina state treasurer's report are significant because they suggest the federal government has failed to closely watch the billions of dollars in tax breaks for nonprofit hospitals.

The nonprofit owners of Atlanta Medical Center, a 460-bed Level 1 trauma center in the heart of the city, plan to close the hospital in November. The news has thrust health care into the political spotlight.