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Ruling against state health regulators, an appeals court Thursday said a Baker County hospital can challenge plans for a Jacksonville medical center that could become a competitor. The 1st District Court of Appeal, in a 16-page ruling, sided with Baker County's Ed Fraser Memorial Hospital in a dispute that centers on a state decision in 2010 to issue what is known as a "certificate of need" for West Jacksonville Medical Center. (10/15)

Nine months after supporters and protesters clashed outside public hearings held to discuss the proposed sale of the Daughters of Charity Health System to a controversial Southern California firm, the mood on Thursday at O'Connor Hospital couldn't have been more different. In their first chance to comment on a New York City-based hedge fund's interest in salvaging the struggling Catholic hospital system, a few dozen O'Connor employees, local residents and others calmly addressed the pros and cons of the transaction to state regulators for two hours. (Seipel, 10/15)

A trio of Texas hospitals sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Monday for granting a rival, physician-owned hospital an exception from federal law allowing it to double in size. The U.S. Affordable Care Act largely banned new physician-owned hospitals over concerns about conflicts of interest that may arise when doctors refer patients for services at hospitals in which they have a financial interest. (Pierson, 10/14)

Hospital chains’ shares dropped after industry leader HCA Holdings Inc. released preliminary third-quarter results that missed analysts’ estimates. While inpatient and emergency room admissions rose, the proportion of uninsured patients and labor costs also increased, HCA said. The company also admitted a lower rate of privately insured patients who provide its strongest revenue, said Sheryl Skolnick, an analyst with Mizuho Securities USA Inc. (Lauerman, 10/15)