Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Amid Spate Of Closures, One Hospital In Rural Tennessee Reopens Its Doors
Despite many rural hospitals closing for good nationwide for financial reasons, Haywood County Memorial Hospital in Tennessee recently reopened, radio station WPLN reported Aug. 21. The hospital was previously owned by Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, which has been shedding its ownership of rural facilities, according to WPLN. (DeSilva, 8/223)
More about health care staffing —
Grand Marais, Minn.-based North Shore Health may have to close its nursing facility for older adults and end ambulance services due to a staffing shortage, radio station WTIP reported Aug. 22. "If [hiring] efforts are not successful, we may not be able to continue to provide services such as the ambulance and care center as we are very dependent on people to allow us to provide these needed services," Kimber Wraalstad, a hospital administrator, said in a report shared with the North Shore Health Hospital Board during a meeting Aug. 18. (DeSilva, 8/22)
Cleveland Clinic said it is well on its way to hitting its goal of hiring 1,200 Cleveland residents in 2022. As part of the partnership, the health system said it has knocked on doors with City Council members to raise awareness about Cleveland Clinic career opportunities, according to the news station. (Gooch, 8/22)
In his first weeks as CEO of CommonSpirit Health, Wright Lassiter is focusing on a few key priorities he says will help the largest not-for-profit system in the country navigate a post-COVID world. ...  CommonSpirit, which has 150,000 employees across 21 states, is forming an internal staffing agency and nursing residency program to bolster its workforce. (Kacik, 8/22)
On health insurance —
This time last year, a gaggle of buzzy health insurance startups justified big investments as key to their aggressive growth plans. Now, these same companies are pulling back and instead pursing a novel business strategy: earning profits. (Tepper, 8/22)
KHN: The $18,000 Breast Biopsy: When Having Insurance Costs You A Bundle
When Dani Yuengling felt a lump in her right breast last summer, she tried to ignore it. She was 35, the same age her mother had been when she received a breast cancer diagnosis in 1997. The disease eventually killed Yuengling’s mom in 2017. (Sausser, 8/23)
