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A Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform report found that less than 42% of U.S. rural hospitals still offer labor and delivery services. That same report found more than 100 rural hospitals have halted or plan to stop delivering babies since 2020. Becker’s has reported on the following hospitals…

A few weeks ago, CIO of Richmond, Ind.-based Reid Health Muhammad Siddique was doing a round of the ED department when he ran into one of his physician colleagues. She stopped to make a quick but meaningful comment. “She looked at me, glanced at my computer, and said, ‘You know…

Brockton, Mass.-based Signature Healthcare will reduce workforce by 3.8% at its Brockton Hospital and Signature Medical Group due to ongoing financial challenges. The health system is also pausing or discontinuing multiple planned projects and holding certain open roles after recent resignations to manage its staff levels, according to an Aug.…

As semaglutide sees a surge in use, new research raises questions about the medication’s  effects on muscle health. A study published Aug. 5 in Cell Metabolism and led by researchers at Salt Lake City-based University of Utah Health found that while mice treated with the drug lost less muscle mass…

Several dozen healthcare organizations, including 48 health systems, have written a letter to Congress, urging lawmakers to extend telehealth coverage for Medicare beneficiaries. The pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities are set to expire Sept. 30 without an extension. “While we strongly support making Medicare telehealth access permanent, if that’s not achievable at…

Hospitals and health systems are preparing for a rise in high-risk pregnancies, even as many labor and delivery units shut down.  Vizient company Sg2 projected that the proportion of high-risk pregnancies will accelerate alongside a rise in obesity-related comorbidities, including high blood pressure and diabetes.  Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, part…

The potential expiration of the ACA premium tax credits at the end of 2025 could lead to a significant increase in emergency department visits, exacerbate provider burnout and drive up healthcare costs for everyone — not just those who would lose coverage. “This isn’t just a policy change that’s going…

Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems signed a letter of intent Aug. 6 to sell three Pennsylvania facilities to hospital turnaround firm Tenor Health Foundation. Since 2020, CHS has announced or completed the sale of 39 hospitals:  2025 Regional Hospital of Scranton (Pa.)* Moses Taylor Hospital in Scranton (Pa.)* Wilkes-Barre (Pa.)…

HHS has reinstated the Safer Childhood Vaccines task force, the agency said in an Aug. 14 news release. Here are six things to know: 1. The task force, created by Congress, was originally disbanded in 1998.  2. In its new iteration, the panel will include senior leadership from the National…

A number of hospitals and health systems are reducing their workforces or jobs amid financial and operational challenges.  Below are workforce reduction efforts or job eliminations announced in 2025.  Editor’s Note: This webpage was created Jan. 22 and updated on Aug. 15. August 1. Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare cut an unspecified…

Minimally invasive spine techniques have been the focus of recent medtech innovations, and more growth is expected in the motion preservation aspects. Five spine surgeons discuss what the near future of minimally invasive techniques will look like.  Question: What will motion-preserving spine surgery look like in 3 years? Tan Chen,…

Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health doubled its rate of early-stage lung cancer diagnoses after implementing an AI-powered tracking tool within its Epic EHR. The tool has led to more than 70% of all lung cancer diagnoses to occur during stage 1 or stage 2, according to a July 21 news release from the American Medical Association.  […]
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St. Cloud, Minn.-based CentraCare is laying off 535 employees across the health system in response to “significant external pressures” including rising costs and reimbursements rates “that no longer cover the true cost of care,” a spokesperson for the health system said in a statement shared with Becker’s.  The layoffs affect 44 locations and represent nearly […]
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When surveyed, nurses consistently identified six areas where hospitals could improve equitable patient care quality for disadvantaged patients. The study, conducted between April and June 2021 by Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania and published in JAMA Network Open, used the RN4CAST-NY/IL survey, which included responses from 1,084 registered nurses who worked in 58 New York and […]
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OpenAI plans to back a competitor to Elon Musk’s Neuralink in the brain-computer interface market, the Financial Times reported. Merge Labs aims to raise $250 million for a valuation of $850 million, with much of the funding coming from the maker of ChatGPT, sources told the news outlet. OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman would reportedly co-found […]
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The National Council of State Boards of Nursing found Washington, D.C., has the most licensed nurses per capita, while Utah is the state with the fewest. The organization created a comprehensive course of nursing licensure statistics in the U.S. and its territories. The data was compiled using the NCSBN’s database and Nursys, an electronic information […]
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The Complex Wound Challenge Complex wounds represent a growing challenge to the healthcare community. As patients age and develop an increasing number of comorbidities, including diabetes and obesity, they are more prone to developing wounds and to experiencing longer, more complex recoveries.1 Chronic wound patients also often experience psychological side effects such as loneliness and depression, which […]
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