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A Senate committee has asked three major private-equity firms for information on how they run or staff hospital emergency departments to see if private equity’s management of a large share of the nation’s ERs has harmed patients. Led by its chairman, Sen. Gary Peters’ ... staff conducted interviews with over 40 emergency department physicians who expressed “significant concerns” about patient safety and care resulting from the aggressive practices of private-equity firms in the arena. (Morgenson, 4/1)

Intermountain Health has closed Saltzer Health after failing to find a buyer for the network of multispecialty clinics. Nampa, Idaho-based Saltzer is still in talks with organizations about purchasing some of its health services, the provider said in a Friday statement. (DeSilva, 4/1)

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking a preliminary injunction to block Novant Health from acquiring two of Community Health Systems' North Carolina hospitals for $320 million. The agency, which sued in January to block the deal announced in February 2023, alleges the purchase would be anticompetitive, and alleges the deal would  "irreversibly consolidate the market for hospital services in the Eastern Lake Norman Area in the northern suburbs of Charlotte." (DeSilva, 4/1)

State regulators have cleared the way for Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont to become part of the Dartmouth Health system. Dartmouth Health — already New Hampshire’s largest health system — and Valley Regional announced plans to affiliate in 2022. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said Monday it will allow the deal to go forward, but with a number of conditions meant to ensure patients don’t face higher costs or lose access to services. (Cuno-Booth, 4/1)

A Universal Health Services subsidiary was ordered to pay $535 million related to negligence charges filed after a 13-year-old patient was sexually assaulted by another patient at a psychiatric facility in Illinois, the for-profit health system said Monday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. (Kacik, 4/1)

Many digital health startups that received hefty funding rounds in 2021 and 2022 find themselves in need of a lifeline in early 2024, either from investors with deep pockets or a buyer. In 2021, venture capital investors wrote a record number of checks for digital health companies based on the promise of greater demand for virtual care, a part of the market that showed promise during the COVID-19 pandemic. But venture capital funding for digital health companies plummeted last year. (Perna, 4/1)

Add mergers and acquisitions to the list of things the Change Healthcare cyberattack has disarrayed. Healthcare deals are on the rise. But the ransomware attack against the UnitedHealth Group division has already caused dealmakers to more intensely scrutinize cybersecurity vulnerabilities and to consider the financial damage potential targets have endured, according to attorneys who specialize in M&A. (Hartnett, 4/1)

Fitch does not anticipate any credit impact on not-for-profit hospitals in the United States from the cyberattack at UnitedHealth's tech unit Change Healthcare that caused disruption to pharmacies across the U.S., the ratings agency said on Monday. The agency said it does not see any negative rating implications tied to the hack if the care providers can return to normal operations in the near term and maintain a large-enough cash cushion. (4/1)