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Health systems are treating sicker patients, straining already full emergency departments and inpatient units. Many health systems are struggling to keep up with the increasingly complex healthcare needs of an aging population, leading to overcrowded emergency rooms and delays in care. Providers are ramping up strategies to treat patients more efficiently and keep those who aren't as sick out of emergency departments. These strategies are critical as capacity wanes and providers face a potential decline in federal healthcare funding, executives said. (Kacik, 2/25)

A while back, Robert Diegelmann completed a 10-day hospital visit — in the comfort of his home. The 81-year-old was being treated for a recurring infection at VCU Medical Center’s hospital in Richmond when his doctor suggested he finish his hospital stay at his home in Midlothian, 15 miles away. The medical center arranged his transportation home and supplied meals. Nurses visited twice daily in person and twice daily by video, too. A courier delivered medications to his house. His vital signs were monitored remotely, and he had round-the-clock access to a clinician via phone or text. (Butcher, 2/25)

A strike involving nearly 5,000 healthcare workers at Providence Health in Oregon, which began Jan. 10, has come to an end. Late Monday, eight RN bargaining units voted overwhelmingly to ratify their contracts and end the strike, which was believed to be the largest involving healthcare workers, and the first involving physicians, in the state's history, according to the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA), which represented the workers. (Henderson, 2/25)

Deerfield-based Walgreens Boots Alliance has agreed to pay a $595 million settlement to a virtual care company over a dispute involving COVID-19 testing — dodging a $987 million arbitration award that a federal judge recently said Walgreens had to pay. (Schencker, 2/25)

After years of negotiations over the proposed sale of three Connecticut hospitals owned by Prospect Medical Holdings to Yale New Haven Health, officials with Yale said Tuesday the deal appears “impossible.” (Golvala, 2/25)

Three people were taken to a hospital after a medical helicopter crashed in a wooded area near a North Carolina airport, officials said. The three team members who were on the AirLink helicopter on Monday night were taken for evaluation. No patients were on board, Novant Health said in a statement. The team consisted of a pilot, a critical care registered nurse and a critical care paramedic, Novant Health said in another statement released later Tuesday. They were in fair condition Tuesday evening, Novant Health said. (2/25)