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A lobbying group for California hospitals is giving $8.5 million to an initiative campaign to extend a temporary tax increase on the wealthy. The political arm of the California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems reported the March 23rd donation on Wednesday. (4/6)

Henry Ford Health System has finalized its deal to absorb smaller Allegiance Health of Jackson, marking the Detroit-based system's first significant expansion beyond southeast Michigan. Allegiance Health's 475-bed main hospital, formerly known as W. A. Foote Memorial Hospital, is now officially renamed Henry Ford Allegiance Health. The deal, which received all required regulatory approvals, also brings the more than 30 Allegiance Health outpatient centers into the Henry Ford fold. (Reindl, 4/5)

Antitrust scrutiny of hospital consolidation in the Chicago area isn't stopping Northwestern University's academic medical center from pursuing another merger. Chicago-based Northwestern Memorial is in talks with Centegra Health System, based in northwest suburban Crystal Lake, to explore a potential combination. There's no guarantee that the discussions will lead to a full-blown merger, but Northwestern has been more successful than not in closing deals. (Sachdev, 4/6)

Crystal Rivera’s son has the kind of health issues that would make any mother anxious: food allergies, asthma attacks, a skin condition. But 5-year-old Dacuarie Dillard was in good hands, seeing specialists at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he and Rivera had grown comfortable with his care. Things changed Jan. 1, when the family’s health insurer, Neighborhood Health Plan, began a new contract with Children’s that makes it more complicated for Dacuarie and thousands of poor children like him to see doctors at one of Massachusetts’ most prestigious hospitals, even as it becomes increasingly popular with wealthier patients from around the country and the globe. (Dayal McCluskey, 4/7)

When two employees at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center died just months apart in what the hospital described as domestic violence incidents, their co-workers were left wondering if they had missed signs at work about the problems at home and what they could have done to intervene. It was a tragedy no one at the hospital wants repeated. Two years later, the Towson hospital is beginning to teach employees how to recognize and prevent domestic violence among its 2,700-person workforce. Organizers hope the shift in attention normally reserved for patients not only helps workers remain safe but sets a standard that can be replicated at other hospitals. (Cohn, 4/6)

Standing beside nurses who recounted the surge in workplace injuries at the hands of violent patients at the state-run psychiatric hospitals, Gov. Mark Dayton urged legislators Wednesday to pay for critical upgrades and staffing increases. (Potter, 4/6)

Gov. Mark Dayton says urgent upgrades are needed at two state-run mental health facilities, and he's calling on lawmakers to come through this session with the necessary funding. Dayton wants $177 million to improve buildings and boost staffing levels at the Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center and the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter. Employees from both facilities say the money is needed to make the places they work safe. (Pugmire, 4/6)

Conditions at the state’s psychiatric hospitals in Anoka and St. Peter are nightmarish and dangerous, employees said Wednesday. They’re pleading for millions of state dollars to improve security and hire more staff. (Montgomery, 4/6)

Patients who were potentially exposed to dangerous viruses while under the care of Baystate Noble Hospital are now suing. Between June 2012 and April 2013, new equipment was being used for colonoscopies at Noble Hospital. Following a recent Department of Public Health inspection, it was discovered that the disinfectant process of the new equipment was not adequate. (Goslee, 4/6)

The Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation is one step closer to expanding its hospital with the hope of improving health care in the region. Last week YKHC signed a joint venture construction agreement with Indian Health Services. “I’ve been waiting 14 years to sign that agreement on March 29. So it’s been a dream of the company’s,” YKHC President and CEO Dan Winkleman said. (MacArthur, 4/6)