Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CEO Faces Criminal Investigation Following Accusations He Has Not Operated Hospitals With Eye On Public Safety
The CEO of the company that owns St. Alexius Hospital is under civil and criminal investigation, according to documents filed in the company鈥檚 bankruptcy case. In a court filing, the U.S. Trustee鈥檚 office said that Americore Holdings CEO Grant White 鈥済rossly mismanaged鈥 his business and 鈥渉as not operated the hospitals in a manner that is consistent with public safety and welfare.鈥 The documents were filed in Americore Holdings鈥 bankruptcy case earlier this month by acting U.S. Trustee Paul Randolph. (Merrilees, 2/13)
Houston Methodist and UnitedHealthcare have agreed not to terminate hundreds of Houston Methodist doctors from the insurer鈥檚 network two months early, nearly two weeks after the hospital filed a petition accusing the insurer of dropping roughly 600 doctors from in-network status. It took a temporary restraining order and caused much confusion for patients and physicians, but Houston Methodist doctors will remain in-network with UnitedHealthcare through April 1, the insurer said Wednesday. (Wu, 2/12)
A bill that would require hospitals to conduct anonymous employee surveys about patient safety is gaining traction in the Florida Legislature. The House has approved similar proposals in the past, but the Senate has historically been cool to the idea. (McGrory and Mahoney, 2/13)
An infant who developed a mold infection at Seattle Children's Hospital has died, becoming the seventh patient at the facility killed by the same infection since 2001... Last year, the hospital confirmed that six patients who developed the same Aspergillus infection have died and several others have been sickened since 2001. The main operating rooms were shut down, first in May and again in November, after the hospital detected the common mold Aspergillus in the air. (Chavez and Riess, 2/14)
An appeals court Wednesday cleared the way for a lawsuit filed against a Pinellas County hospital by a volunteer who was diagnosed with the disease Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA.聽Ronald Wendel, who had served as a volunteer at Mease Countryside Hospital, filed a lawsuit alleging that he contracted the disease because of the hospital鈥檚 negligence, according to the ruling by a panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal. (News Service Of Florida, 2/13)
鈥淲e are writing with deep concern regarding the state of Mission Hospital Systems since the purchase by Hospital Corporation of America last year.鈥 So began a scorching condemnation of HCA Healthcare鈥檚 performance in a letter read aloud to a packed room of community and health care leaders who turned out Monday night for a聽listening session with Gibbins Advisors, the Nashville, Tenn.-based firm hired to monitor HCA鈥檚 compliance with聽15 obligations聽stemming from its acquisition of Mission Health. (Cotiaux, 2/13)
A child psychologist facing a federal lawsuit in Iowa stemming from sexual arousal experiments he oversaw on residents at a state care center for people with intellectual disabilities conducted similar research in Kansas while running one of its state hospitals. The Kansas agency that oversees the state's hospitals says its initial investigation of sexual arousal research involving Jerry Rea in Kansas suggests that ethics guidelines and proper protocols were followed. (2/13)