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Essentia Health is facing public outrage after announcing it will end labor and delivery services at the Fosston hospital it operates in north central Minnesota. About 40 community members gathered at Fosston City Hall Tuesday night to tune into a virtual public hearing on the matter, according to Fosston Mayor Jim Offerdahl. Roughly 100 others joined online. (Stockton, Wurzer and Eagle III, 1/31)

Troubled Pennsylvania hospital chain Tower Health is eyeing a turnaround after struggling even before the pandemic hit. It is essentially undoing the ill-fated 2017 merger that transformed it into a six-hospital system. But its plan hit a snag last week when the sale of its shuttered 171-bed Brandywine Hospital to Penn Medicine fell through. (Coleman-Lochner, 1/31)

Saint Peter's Healthcare System and Atlantic Health System have signed a letter of intent to form a strategic partnership, with the goal of merging the two New Jersey providers. Under the terms announced Wednesday, Atlantic would make "significant" but unspecific investments in the 116-year-old Saint Peter's, according to a news release. If a definitive agreement is reached and a merger completed, Saint Peter's would continue to operate as a Catholic hospital and would transition onto Atlantic's electronic medical record system, the systems said. (DeSilva, 1/31)

General Catalysts’s grand vision for a venture capital-owned hospital system seamlessly blending AI and tech into everyday appointments and rewarding staff for keeping patients healthy might sound alluring. But the firm’s bold experiment is facing hurdles even before it has started as the community served by the health system it hopes to buy is pushing back. (Ravindranath, 2/1)

Longtime Cedars-Sinai President and CEO Thomas Priselac will retire after a successor is named and brought onboard, the nonprofit health system said Wednesday. Cedars-Sinai did not provide details on the expected timeline for the search. (Hudson, 1/31)

Alabama’s largest provider of home care services said it abruptly left the state last fall because the state’s “reimbursement and regulatory environment” made it difficult to recruit and retain enough workers, according to Kristen Trenaman, the company’s vice president of public relations. Its departure sent state agencies scrambling to find new caregivers for the people who relied on it. Help at Home’s departure from Alabama “had a significant effect,” according to Debra Davis, deputy commissioner for the Alabama Department of Senior Services. (Claire Vollers, 1/31)

Legislative language to restrict hospital billing rates in outpatient clinics continues to divide lawmakers as they try to coalesce around a broader health care package, with concerns about rural hospitals stalling progress in the Senate. The language is aimed at preventing hospitals from buying up independent physician practices and then billing for the same services at a higher rate. Critics allege the practice unnecessarily increases costs, while hospitals argue their own costs are higher. (Clason and Hellmann, 1/31)

More than half of Americans would accept heart health advice from technology that uses artificial intelligence. And while most Americans would believe health advice given by a computer chatbot, they would check with their doctor before acting on that advice. Those are some findings from the Cleveland Clinic’s 2024 Heart Health Survey, released Thursday to coincide with the start of American Heart Month. (Washington, 2/1)