Ransomware group Black Basta is accelerating its attacks against the healthcare industry, according to a May 10 report from the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center.  

Two U.S. lawmakers on May 9 reintroduced a bill that would create a federal grant program for nursing schools to stand up or expand accelerated degree programs geared toward individuals with an undergraduate degree in another field. 

The FDA is preparing to respond should bird flu begin circulating more widely among humans, though the threat the disease currently poses to humans remains low, the agency's commissioner Robert Califf, MD, told senators May 8. 

King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services has named Mark Cannon vice president of revenue cycle management, according to a May 10 post on his LinkedIn page. 

Physicians, physician associates and nurse practitioners at Portland, Ore.-based Legacy Health's primary care clinics announced May 7 their efforts to unionize with the Pacific Northwest Hospital Medicine Association.

Baltimore-based Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital's emergency department resumed seeing new patients in the midst of dealing with a cybersecurity incident that is hampering Ascension facilities, The Baltimore Sun reported May 10. 

Little Rock, Ark.-based Baptist Health is expanding the use of telehealth devices to more than 700 bedsides systemwide. 

A number of hospitals and health systems are reducing their workforces or jobs due to financial and operational challenges. 

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has launched an investigation into what led to Dallas-based Steward Health Care filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 6.

Peoria, Ill.-based OSF HealthCare and Dixon, Ill.-based Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital have shared plans to merge after entering into exclusive negotiations. 

New Orleans-based Ochsner Health reported $1.8 billion in total revenue for the first three months ended March 31, 2024, a 4% increase from $1.72 billion during the same time period in 2023, according to its recent financial report.

The following hospital and health system executive moves have been shared with or reported by Becker's this year:

Valparaiso, Ind.-based Northwest Health has appointed Thomas Rohs, MD, to the role of chief medical officer, effective May 6. 

MultiPlan CEO Travis Dalton said on the data analytics firm's May 8 earnings call that the company's strategy is not affected by recent lawsuits filed by health systems. 

Pittsburgh-based UPMC has agreed to pay $38 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit filed against the health system and 13 staff neurosurgeons in 2012, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Diversity in healthcare leadership results in a more well-rounded experience for patients and providers. 

Corpus Christi, Texas-based Driscoll Children’s has opened its $100 million Driscoll Children's Hospital Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas. 

The following hospital and health system CFO moves have been shared with or reported by Becker's this year:

Herbert Pardes, MD, a psychiatrist and leader who helped oversee the merger of the two medical centers that became New York-Presbyterian Hospital, died of aortic stenosis April 30 at age 89, The New York Times reported May 9.

National Hospital Week — which aims to recognize and celebrate hospitals, health systems and the people who work at them — begins May 12 and runs through May 18.