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Less than a month after Ascension announced plans to sell nine Illinois hospitals to Prime Healthcare, the systems are asking the state for permission to close one of those hospitals. The systems also revealed for the first time, in applications to the state Health Facilities and Services Review Board, that Prime is paying Ascension more than $370 million to buy the nine hospitals. (Schencker, 8/19)

SSM Health will open the first behavioral health urgent care clinic in St. Louis next week on South Grand Boulevard, officials announced Monday. The facility, based at the former emergency department at SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital, will operate like one of the dozens of no-appointment-needed urgent care centers around the region. But instead of conducting flu tests and treating skin infections, health workers will treat patients with depression, bipolar, addiction and other mental health issues. (Fentem, 8/19)

Patients with non-emergency conditions seeking care in emergency departments drain resources from hospitals and health systems, leading some providers to consider a dual-care model. A growing number of health systems are partnering with private equity-backed company Intuitive Health to establish combined emergency and urgent care sites. (Hudson, 8/19)

Hospitals are in an increasingly vulnerable position as Medicare Advantage enrollment surges and the federal government looks to take a harder line on health plans, S&P Global warns in a new report. Financial pressures have already prompted providers like Scripps Health to terminate contracts with MA plans, leaving patients looking for new coverage arrangements or doctors. (Bettelheim, 8/20)

Unusual for a hospital system, Northwell Health has opened its doors to several filmmakers in recent years. It has made for riveting television, including Netflix’s hit “Lenox Hill,” a docuseries about the doctors and patients in Northwell’s hospital on the Upper East Side. The documentary “The First Wave” was filmed inside another Northwell hospital during the deadly early days of Covid-19. Now, Northwell wants to ramp up the number of movies and shows set in its hospitals. (Goldstein, 8/17)

Long-term care providers in New Hampshire say they’re in dire need of more licensed nursing assistants, as staff shortages limit the number of available beds. But a key recruitment and training program has been on hold since May, after its funding dried up. (Cuno-Booth, 8/16)

Science is a team sport, and those teams are getting larger. While that expansion might help researchers answer complex biomedical questions by working together, a recent study suggests that this trend has hampered the career prospects of Ph.D. graduates. (Wosen, 8/20)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Traveling To Die: The Latest Form Of Medical Tourism

In the 18 months after Francine Milano was diagnosed with a recurrence of the ovarian cancer she thought she’d beaten 20 years ago, she traveled twice from her home in Pennsylvania to Vermont. She went not to ski, hike, or leaf-peep, but to arrange to die. ... Dying with medical assistance wasn’t an option when Milano learned in early 2023 that her disease was incurable. At that point, she would have had to travel to Switzerland — or live in the District of Columbia or one of the 10 states where medical aid in dying was legal. (Waldman, 8/20)