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The Cleveland Clinic suffered a nearly 50 percent decrease in operating income in 2016, falling to $243 million from a record high of $481 million the year before, according to a report released Wednesday. During his annual State of the Clinic address to employees, Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove said the decrease was expected and was driven by falling reimbursement brought about by the Affordable Care Act as well as rising drug costs. (Zeltner, 2/15)

When someone wants to build a new hospital or nursing home in Florida or add beds in an existing facility, the state has to agree that their community has a need for expanded health care. It's a regulation meant to ensure that poor and rich communities alike have equal access to hospitals, hospices and other health facilities. But at $10,000 to $50,000 per facility application, it's also costly and can lead to lengthy, even pricier lawsuits. (Auslen, 2/15)

A Kansas House committee narrowly rejected a bill Wednesday that would have allowed the University of Kansas Health System to continue banning concealed firearms. It failed to advance on an 11-11 vote. The chairman of the House Federal and State Affairs Committee, Republican Rep. John Barker of Abilene, chose not to vote to break the tie. A state law set to take effect in July will allow concealed weapons on university campuses and in public hospitals and government buildings unless security is in place to keep out guns. The bill would have exempted the KU Health System. (Koranda, 2/15)

Nemours Children’s Hospital will find out on Friday if the state is going to give initial approval to its application for a new heart and lung transplant program, which would be Central Florida’s first and the fifth in the state. This is good news to parents such as Kelly Green, an Orlando resident whose 9-year-old son has congenital heart disease and might one day need a heart transplant. (Miller, 2/15)