Swiss pharma giant Novartis recently garnered about $2.1 billion from investors by selling bonds linked to its promises to make its treatments more accessible in lower-income countries, according to STAT.

Several hospitals were damaged by flooding, fire or wind this year. Below are six, as reported by Becker's Hospital Review. 

Pennsylvania released an app Sept. 22 that uses Bluetooth technology to let users know if they've been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

Long Branch, N.J.-based Monmouth Medical Center, part of RWJBarnabas Health, received a $50 million donation to support construction of a new medical campus. 

The following hospital and health system CEO moves were reported in the last week. 

UC Health has tapped Robert Wiehe as chief administrative officer of its 724-bed University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

HHS' ONC on Sept. 23 named four recipients of more than $2.7 million in grants under its Leading Edge Acceleration Projects in Health IT funding opportunity.

Health systems may experience financial gains by implementing clinical decision support tools in their EHR systems, according to a recent study published in the US National Library of Medicine.

Hennepin Healthcare terminated five employees in July for inappropriately viewing the medical records of "a high profile patient" after George Floyd was taken to the Minneapolis-based hospital in May after dying in police custody, according to a Sept. 23 Star Tribune report.

California's Occupational Safety and Health division has proposed $77,040 in penalties for five hospitals and skilled nursing facilities that it says failed to protect employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

More than 2.2 million women of childbearing age live in "maternity care deserts," or areas where hospitals do not offer obstetric care, birthing services or specialized providers, according to a new report from March of Dimes.

Nursing homes with a higher proportion of minority residents reported higher numbers of new COVID-19 cases than facilities with fewer minority residents, a new study shows.

Researchers from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine have developed a prediction model to help clinicians forecast if a coronavirus patient's conditions are likely to worsen.

John J. Magri IV, MD, a Florida-based physician who patients say was lax about wearing a mask, died Sept. 16 and tested positive for the new coronavirus post-mortem, Florida Today reports.

An analysis of global research shows that patient bathrooms, staff and public areas of hospitals contain high amounts of SARS-CoV-2 in the air, although the infectivity of these samples is still unclear.

Daniel Hilferty, president and CEO of Independence Health Group, which runs Independence Blue Cross and AmeriHealth Caritas, is retiring.

The U.S. recently set a record of COVID-19 tests completed in a single day, but that number is still far lower than what experts say is needed to get the pandemic under control, The Hill reported. 

KPC Health, a seven-hospital system based in Santa Ana, Calif., has selected Tirso del Junco Jr., MD, as CMO.  

A federal agency is investigating the VA Connecticut Healthcare System after a union complaint alleging illegal employment practices, the nonprofit Connecticut Health Investigative Team reported.

Researchers at New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System developed a COVID-19 mortality predictive model that can accurately and cost-effectively aid clinical staff in assessing COVID-19 patients' risk of death, according to a study published in the October 2020 issue of The Lancet.