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A flashing red light summoned Dr. Brian Skow to his third emergency of the afternoon, and he hurried to a desk in a suburban office building. He sat in front of an oversize computer monitor, which showed a live video feed from inside a hospital room in eastern Montana. Two nurses were leaning over a patient on a stretcher, checking for a pulse, and squeezing oxygen out of a bag and into the patient’s lungs. “I’m Doctor Skow,” he said, waving into a camera attached to his computer, introducing himself as the presiding emergency physician even though he was seated more than 700 miles away. “How can we help you today?” (Saslow, 11/16)

Ballad Health has worked feverishly to consolidate services across its rural Southwest Virginia hospitals, with Norton Community Hospital emerging as the remaining inpatient hospital in its town. Now, the not-for-profit health system has bought out a minority owner's 49.9% stake in that hospital. The change means all of the hospital's revenue now flows to Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad, up from about half before the deal. (Bannow, 11/15)