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Just more than a month after judges made what some saw as the final decision in a case over new hospital beds for Buncombe County and the surrounding region, Mission Hospital signaled in the state’s highest court that it’s not giving up a nearly three-year fight over which health system gets to expand in western North Carolina. (Jones, 7/27)

In the winter of 2021, social workers in rural Wilson County were overwhelmed by a surge in reports of adults with disabilities being abused. In a typical month, the county’s Department of Social Services receives about 30 such complaints. But that February, the agency fielded 33 reports in just seven days. (Baxley, 7/28)

Hospitals are partnering with companies to offer student loan repayment in an effort to recruit and retain staff in a more competitive, cost-effective way. The concept of using loan repayment as a recruiting tool isn’t new, but it may grow in popularity with the passage of the new tax law, which includes lifetime caps on federal student loan borrowing and fewer loan repayment plans. (DeSilva, 7/25)

As hospitals continue to grapple with long wait times in emergency departments (EDs), some patient advocates have pushed for "safe staffing committees" to deal with the problem, but the idea has proven to be controversial. Maryland, which has the longest ED wait times in the country, is one state where the idea appears to be gaining momentum. (Frieden, 7/25)

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News: Cosmetic Surgeries Led To Disfiguring Injuries, Patients Allege

A few days after a harrowing cosmetic surgery procedure, Erin Schaeffer said, she woke up with fluid leaking from an open wound in her stomach. Schaeffer went on to spend a week in a Florida hospital battling a severe infection after a type of tummy tuck and liposuction at the Jacksonville branch of Sono Bello, a national cosmetic surgery chain. (Schulte, 7/28)