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A sharp ding rings through the loudspeaker at Crawford County Memorial Hospital in Denison, Iowa. On this early afternoon in September, the sound elicits cheers from nearby nurses. Don Luensmann, the hospital’s marketing manager, is quick to explain with a big smile. “Baby just got born,” he said. (Krebs, 12/8)

It was 3 a.m. at the 10-bed hospital near the River of No Return, and by every measure, Ella Wenrich should have been dead. Gastrointestinal bleeding had sent her hemoglobin level — typically above 12 — down to 3.3, and she needed an enormous blood transfusion at a larger medical center. But amid a surge in Covid cases, every major facility within 400 miles refused to take her. The smallest hospital in Idaho was, once again, on its own. (Baumgaertner, 12/9)

Hospitals in some non-Medicaid expansion states are pitching expansion as a way to help solve the rural health crisis. But the industry is hardly speaking with one voice. Facilities with fewer commercially insured patients that treat a large number of uninsured people see expansion as a potential lifeline in tough economic times. (Dreher, 12/8)

The final day to enroll for health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace is next Thursday, Dec. 15.Health care "navigators" at the University of South Florida have received thousands of calls in need of help sorting through the complexities of the market, and leaders expect those calls to increase as the deadline looms closer. (Pedersen, 12/8)

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: He Made A Video About Health Insurance Terminology That Went Viral 

A 30-minute video about health insurance terminology has racked up more than a million views. Host Dan Weissmann spoke with Brian David Gilbert, the person behind the video. (Weissmann, 12/9)

Stanford University has hired an outside law firm to lead the investigation of its president over allegations of research misconduct, a decision that comes in the wake of criticisms over potential conflicts of interest in the school’s internal review process. (Garde, 12/8)

A former Cape Cod Hospital cardiologist says he was dismissed and defamed after raising concerns about botched surgeries and poor ethical practices at the hospital. In a lawsuit filed in Barnstable Superior Court on Tuesday against the hospital and its CEO, Dr. Richard Zelman alleged that the hospital prioritized profits over patient safety and public health. (Bartlett, 12/8)

University of Michigan's Michigan Medicine is expected to approve on Thursday a deal that will allow the university hospital to acquire the state's seventh largest health system, Lansing-based Sparrow Health, Crain's learned from a UM official close to the deal. Terms of the transaction were not immediately known, but it's expected to be a member-swap agreement. (Walsh and Eggert, 12/8)

Tech giant Canon Inc. is gearing up to make Cleveland the home of a U.S.-based medical imaging unit that would significantly expand the company's research and development efforts in the country. (Suttell, 12/8)

Disparities along racial and socioeconomic lines have long persisted in health care. But it’s only somewhat recently that the health care industry’s often glitzy gatherings have started grappling with health equity, as the pandemic both widened health inequities and also demonstrated the potential of technology to tackle them. (Ravindranath, 12/9)

KHN: To Attract In-Home Caregivers, California Offers Paid Training — And Self-Care

One November afternoon, Chris Espedal asked a group of caregivers — all of whom work with people who have cognitive impairments, behavioral health issues, or complex physical needs — to describe what happens when their work becomes too much to bear. The participants, 13 caregivers from all over California, who had gathered in a Zoom room, said they experienced nausea, anxiety, shortness of breath, elevated heart rates, and other telltale signs of stress. “I want to scream!” one called out. “I feel exhausted,” said another. (Udesky, 12/9)