Kristin Kuchno

How Forbes’ best employers for women boost leadership development

08/29/2025

Forty hospitals and health systems were named to Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers for Women 2025. The list recognizes organizations rated highly by employees on factors such as pay equity, parental leave and advancement opportunities. Leaders from seven of the featured healthcare organizations shared with Becker’s how they are…

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HHS expands oversight into organ transplant network

08/29/2025

HHS launched a dashboard Aug. 27 to track organ transplants that skip patients next in line on transplant waiting lists.  The practice, called “allocation out of sequence,” is growing in frequency. In 2024, organ procurement organizations skipped waitlisted patients for 19% of transplants from deceased donors, six times more often…

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The hardest lessons for orthopedic leaders

08/29/2025

Learning how to deal with declining reimbursements while still delivering top quality care and adapting personal strategies to lift up the strengths of colleagues are just two of the difficult lessons that orthopedic surgeons are reporting they have learned.  To be a strong leader in the orthopedic space, surgeons must…

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Senators probe UnitedHealth over ‘predatory’ loan collections

08/29/2025

Two U.S. senators are pressing UnitedHealth Group for answers on what they deemed “predatory” tactics from the company in seeking loan repayments from healthcare providers related to the 2024 Change Healthcare cyberattack. U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, R-Ore., wrote a letter Aug. 27 to the CEOs of…

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Healthcare needs a stronger ‘backbone’

08/29/2025

For decades, healthcare has invested in breakthrough technologies — from artificial intelligence to genomics to robotics — with the promise of delivering safer, smarter, more personalized care. Yet the most important IT problem remains unsolved. Health system leaders need true interoperability to move forward. Without seamless, secure, real-time data exchange,…

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U of Iowa Health Care delays expansion project amid federal cuts 

08/29/2025

University of Iowa Health Care has decided to delay work on a $2 billion inpatient tower due to federal funding changes that are projected to result in a $9.5 billion reduction in healthcare funding to Iowa. In an Aug. 28 statement, the academic health system said work on the Jacobson…

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Children’s hospitals, cancer centers lose funding for brain tumor trials

08/29/2025

Children’s hospitals and cancer centers are halting enrollment in pediatric brain tumor studies after the federal government paused funding, The New York Times reported Aug. 28.  The Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium includes more than a dozen children’s hospitals and academic centers across the U.S. and Canada. The network’s objective is…

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10 hospitals closing departments or ending services

08/29/2025

A number of healthcare organizations have recently closed medical departments or ended services at facilities to shore up finances, focus on more in-demand services or address staffing shortages. Here are 10 department closures or services that are ending or have been announced, advanced or finalized that Becker’s reported since July…

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The nonclinical workforce shortages looming in healthcare

08/28/2025

As the U.S. faces ongoing shortages of skilled tradespeople, hospitals and health systems are preparing for those gaps to affect their own operations. Health system leaders told Becker’s roles such as mechanics and electricians are critical to daily hospital operations. At Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare, skilled trades have emerged as a…

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Vanderbilt taps chief supply chain officer

08/28/2025

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has named Yolanda Redmond chief supply chain officer.  She will succeed Teresa Dail, BSN, RN, who will retire from the role at the end of the year and will continue to serve as president of Vanderbilt Health Supply Chain Solutions, according to an Aug. 28 news…

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Drugmaker recalls muscle relaxant over labeling error

08/28/2025

Unichem pharmaceuticals issued a nationwide recall of one lot of cyclobenzaprine hydrochloride tablets after finding that bottles labeled as the muscle relaxant actually contained meloxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.  The recall was due to a labeling error in which the cyclobenzaprine 10 milligram label was mistakenly applied to bottles containing…

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CMS launches ‘chili cook-off’ AI competition to tackle Medicare fraud 

08/28/2025

CMS has rolled out the “Crushing Fraud Chili Cook‑Off Competition,” a  market-based research challenge seeking explainable AI and machine learning to detect Medicare fraud, waste and abuse. The challenge also seeks innovative, scalable technologies that reduce labor-intensive processes “while keeping humans meaningfully in the loop to ensure effective oversight and…

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Hospital CEO exits climb 15% year over year: 4 things to know

08/28/2025

Hospitals reported 78 CEO exits through July 2025 — a 15% increase from 68 recorded during the same period in 2024. The finding is from executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas’ Aug. 28 report examining CEO turnovers in the U.S. Four things to know: 1. Ten of the 78…

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Nebraska hospital CEO returns to former CFO position

08/28/2025

Imperial, Neb.-based Chase County Community Hospital & Clinics CEO Abby Cyboron is exiting her role after five years to return to her previous role as the facility’s CFO, according to an Aug. 28 LinkedIn post. Prior to joining Chase County Community, Ms. Cyboron served as CFO of Kearney, Neb.-based Valley…

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Intermountain Health taps chief supply chain officer

08/28/2025

Supply chain leader Jeromie Atkinson is returning to Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health as the system’s chief supply chain officer, according to an Aug. 28 news release shared with Becker’s.  Mr. Atkinson worked at Intermountain from 2009 to 2016 before taking on supply chain roles at UPMC in Pittsburgh, UCHealth…

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Cone Health quality chief heads to AdventHealth 

08/28/2025

Carolyn Harraway-Smith, MD, has joined Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth as chief medical officer of its Daytona Beach hospital.  Dr. Harraway-Smith stepped into the role Aug. 25. She previously served as chief quality officer of Cone Health, a five-hospital system based in Greensboro, N.C. She has spent more than 20 years…

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Women-held roles driving majority of healthcare job growth

08/28/2025

Nearly 75% of the 1.8 million jobs added in healthcare and social assistance over the past two years were women-held roles, according to an Aug. 26 report from Indeed’s Hiring Lab. Five things to know: 1. Women-held roles in healthcare and social assistance accounted for more than 38% of the…

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What’s changing in hospital workforce strategy? 4 leaders weigh in

08/28/2025

Hospitals and health systems are rethinking workforce strategies amid financial pressures and evolving employee needs. For many, the focus is on long-term sustainability: strengthening culture, upskilling leaders and creating pathways for hard-to-fill roles.  Here, four leaders share the aspects of their workforce strategy they are rethinking. Editor’s note: Responses have…

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4 nurse innovation projects inspired by front-line staff

08/28/2025

AARP and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses awarded grants to 20 hospitals to expand or launch nurse innovation programs. The groups awarded more than $355,000 to 20 projects offering innovative and replicable solutions to strengthen the nursing workforce by creating and sustaining healthy work environments aimed at improving recruitment…

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New Hampshire health system names marketing chief

08/28/2025

Charlotte Brown-Zalewa has been named vice president of marketing and communications at Manchester, N.H.-based Elliot Health System. Ms. Brown-Zalewa most recently worked in strategic communications at York, Pa.-based WellSpan Health. She has also served in marketing and physician relations leadership roles at Cambridge, Mass.-based Beth Israel Lahey Health, Andover, Mass.-based…

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Partial heart transplants: What to know

08/28/2025

Fewer than 50 people have undergone partial heart transplants, but the procedure is emerging as a potential solution to the increase in discarded organs and growing transplant waiting list, according to an Aug. 27 report from The New York Times.  More than 2,000 children and 100,000 adults in the U.S.…

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AdventHealth opens $150M heart hospital in Denver

08/28/2025

Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth has opened the AdventHealth Heart & Vascular Institute on its Littleton, Colo., campus.  The new facility represents a $150 million investment for the health system, according to an Aug. 26 report from NBC affiliate 9News.  Services provided at the heart center will include electrophysiology, surgery, intensive…

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Steward ordered to pay nearly $1B in Utah malpractice case

08/28/2025

Utah Third District Court Judge Patrick Corum has ordered Dallas-based Steward Health Care to pay $951 million to a family after finding the health system liable for medical malpractice for birth injuries sustained during the 2019 delivery of a child at its former West Valley City, Utah-based Jordan Valley Medical…

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