Laura Dyrda

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,…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Jason Barrett began serving as CEO of The George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 18, and he brings more than 25 years of healthcare experience to the role. Prior to joining GW Hospital, Mr. Barrett, who also serves as group vice president of the District of Columbia…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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…

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…

Healthcare groups are condemning the FDA’s decision to issue narrow approvals for COVID-19 vaccines, saying the move will limit access for millions of Americans and raise the risk of severe outcomes ahead of respiratory virus season.  On Aug. 27, the FDA approved updated vaccines targeting newer strains of the virus…

The American Hospital Association sharply criticized a 340B rebate model pilot program from the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of HSS, warning the model threatens to undermine three decades of success under the existing 340B drug pricing program.  In an Aug. 27 letter addressed to Thomas Engels, administrator…

Purchased services spending has increased across all departments in recent years and health systems are taking a closer look at the data to identify trends and opportunities to improve vendor contract management. Kaufman Hall gathered monthly spending data by department to break down recent trends and found big upticks in…

Nearly one-third of readmissions occur at a different hospital than the original site of care, which limits a hospital’s visibility after a patient’s discharge and increases costs, according to an August report from Vizient.  Vizient researchers analyzed an all-payer dataset and U.S. Medicare claims in 2023 by the hospitalwide, all-cause,…