Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Hospital Roundup: Layoffs At MD Anderson Cancer Center To Hit 5% Of Staff
MD Anderson Cancer Center said it would cut 800 to 900 jobs, or about 5% of its workforce, as the globally renowned Texas hospital struggles with financial losses. Chief Financial Officer Dan Fontaine attributed the losses to a drop in physician productivity as the Houston-based hospital began using new electronic health records last year. Doctors took time away from patients to learn the new computerized system, and continue to struggle with it, he said in an interview. (Evans, 1/5)
No doctors or clinical-care nurses will lose their jobs, as MD Anderson reduces costs to try to stem operating losses. The layoffs will save the cancer hospital about $120 million. The reduction, nearly 5 percent of MD Anderson's 20,000-employee work force, had been feared at the acclaimed cancer center since late last month when officials confirmed operating losses of more than $50 million in both September and October. (Ackerman, 1/5)
Massachusetts' largest healthcare network has taken its first step into the New Hampshire health market by purchasing Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. Wentworth-Douglass in Dover and Mass. General Hospital in Boston have been clinical partners since 2008, and both say the acquisition will give the New Hampshire hospital access to more specialized doctors. (Rodolico, 1/4)
The New Jersey Department of Health recommended that the State Health Planning Board approve Inspira Health Network's proposal to build a $326 million replacement hospital for Inspira Medical Center-Woodbury. At a meeting next week the planning board is scheduled to consider whether to grant a certificate of need to the proposed hospital in Harrison Township, according to an agenda released Thursday. A 25-page report by department of health staff said the replacement hospital is "in the best interest of the patients in the hospital's service area and for the future provision of quality health care services by the hospital." (Brubaker, 1/5)
A transgender man sued a Roman Catholic hospital on Thursday, saying it cited religion in refusing to allow his surgeon to perform a hysterectomy as part of his sex transition. Jionni Conforti's sex and gender discrimination lawsuit comes as new regulations hailed as groundbreaking anti-discrimination protections for transgender people are under legal attack from religious groups. (Cornfield, 1/5)
