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The state Office of Health Strategy announced on Friday the approval of a plan to terminate labor and delivery services at Windham Hospital, bringing an end to a three-year saga that pitted community organizers against one of the state’s largest health systems. (Golvala, 12/1)

Community Health Systems sold three Florida hospitals to Tampa General Hospital in a $294 million cash deal that closed Friday, the for-profit health system announced. ...Tampa General said in a Friday news release the acquired facilities, which will form TGH North, mark its largest expansion in recent years. It operates six hospitals and more than 150 care locations. (Hudson, 12/1)

Tampa General Hospital on Friday announced it had completed the estimated $290 million purchase of Bravera Health properties in Citrus and Hernando counties from Community Health Systems. The transaction, announced in July, includes TGH Brooksville, TGH Spring Hill and TGH Crystal River, a freestanding emergency department, two ambulatory surgery centers, and 10 primary and specialty care clinics. (Mayer, 12/1)

HCA Healthcare continues to increase its free-standing emergency room network following its latest acquisition. The Houston division of the 184-hospital for-profit system acquired 11 Houston-area emergency departments Friday from SignatureCare Emergency Center. With the acquisition, HCA Houston has 26 free-standing emergency departments. Financial terms were not disclosed. (Kacik, 12/1)

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show significant declines in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) at US acute care hospitals in 2022. According to the CDC's 2022 National and State Healthcare-Associated Infections Progress Report, which includes data from more than 38,000 US healthcare facilities, acute care hospitals saw a 19% decrease in ventilator-associated events from 2021 to 2022, a 16% decrease in hospital-onset methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia, a 12% decrease in catheter-associated urinary tract infections, a 9% decrease in central line–associated bloodstream infections, and a 3% decrease in hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile (CDI) infections. The declines follow 2 years in which HAIs climbed sharply at US acute care hospitals, driven primarily by the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on hospital staffing and infection prevention and control efforts. (Dall, 12/1)

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News and The New York Times: Desperate Families Search For Affordable Home Care 

It’s a good day when Frank Lee, a retired chef, can slip out to the hardware store, fairly confident that his wife, Robin, is in the hands of reliable help. He spends nearly every hour of every day anxiously overseeing her care at their home on the Isle of Palms, a barrier island near Charleston, South Carolina. Robin Lee, 67, has had dementia for about a decade, but the couple was able to take overseas trips and enjoy their marriage of some 40 years until three years ago, when she grew more agitated, prone to sudden outbursts, and could no longer explain what she needed or wanted. He struggled to care for her largely on his own. (Abelson, 12/4)

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News and The New York Times: What To Know About Home Care Services 

Most older Americans want to live at home as long as they can, but finding and affording the help they need often isn’t easy. There are severe shortages of home health aides in many parts of the country. Hiring them is costly. And most middle-class people will have to pay for home care themselves if it’s needed for the long haul. Here’s a guide to locating home care for an older person. (Abelson, 12/4)

As America's population of seniors grows, affordable long-term care is increasingly hard to find. Nearly 70% of older adults will need long-term care services, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. Medicare doesn't cover these services, and Medicaid often has long wait lists for at-home support, said Samara Scheckler, a research associate. (Rubin and Pandey, 12/3)