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The public now has the ability to check how Virginia hospitals rank in patient safety. The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, a health system advocacy group, has launched the Quality and Patient Safety Scorecard, an interactive online scorecard that includes patient safety records for 80 facilities. (Suarez, 11/15)

Vermont's largest health care provider is embarking on an ambitious project of getting 80 percent of its revenue by 2018 for keeping its patients healthy rather than being paid for the amount of care it provides to patients. To make the change in such a short time, patients of the University of Vermont Medical Center, its affiliated doctor's offices and other providers will be hearing more in the coming months about the best ways to keep themselves healthy, said UVM CEO Dr. John Brumsted. (Ring, 11/16)

Pioneer Community Hospital of Newton [Miss.], which is slated to close its doors Dec. 1, owes Newton County more than $300,000 in back taxes, county officials said Friday. According to numbers provided by the Newton County Chancery Clerk's office, the hospital owes $169,478 for 2013 and $146,318 for 2014. The total bill of $315,797 reflects the property tax bills for those years, plus penalties and interest, according to Newton County Chancery Clerk George Hayes. The hospital's tax bill for 2015 hasn't been figured yet, Hayes said. (Graham, 11/15)

Four of the five most profitable mental-health hospitals in Pennsylvania are owned by Universal Health Services Inc., according to a report being published Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. The King of Prussia company, which is under federal criminal investigation for its Medicare and Medicaid billing practices at about 20 facilities in nine states, owns eight psychiatric hospitals in Pennsylvania, including three that are under investigation. (Brubaker, 11/17)

Shawnee Mission Health-Prairie Star in Lenexa is expanding its bariatric surgery program in an effort to meet the needs of slimming down. In 2014, doctors performed more than 1,000 bariatric procedures at Prairie Star, exceeding the 930 in 2013. Due to the increased demand of surgeries, Prairie Star is increasing its capacities through an expansion of the inpatient medical/surgical unit. The bariatric surgery program is a partnership between Shawnee Mission Health and The Bariatric Center of Kansas City in Lenexa. (Grote, 11/16)