Cerner CEO and Chair Brent Shafer will depart from his position, the Kansas City, Mo.-based EHR company said May 5. 

William Johnston was named executive vice president and COO of South Shore Health, the South Weymouth, Mass.-based health system said last week. 

Healthcare workers in 19 HCA Healthcare hospitals in Florida have approved a new contract that includes across-the-board raises and other benefits, according to the union that represents them. 

Saint Francis Health System in Tulsa, Okla., is set to leave Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma's provider network by July 29 if the organizations don't reach a new contract agreement, according to ABC affiliate News Channel 8.

The D.C. Council declined to increase funding for the troubled United Medical Center, which will likely trigger a fiscal management control board to take over finance decisions and make drastic cuts at the Washington, D.C.-based hospital, The Washington Post reported May 4. 

About 700 nurses and healthcare workers have filed a petition expressing concern over Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health's plan to acquire 17 facilities from Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, according to the Duluth News Tribune.

Shareholders of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare voted against several measures at its annual meeting, including one that would increase the role quality metrics play in executive pay calculations and another to oust a director. 

On April 13, the day the CDC paused use of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, a patient with a rare vaccine-induced blood clot sought emergency care at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, according to a case study published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Below are 10 hospitals and health systems that posted job listings seeking vice presidents during the last few weeks.

Arizona is the best state to work as a nurse and Maryland is the worst, according to an analysis by WalletHub, a personal finance website. 

New Orleans-based LSU Health Sciences Center pulled six medical residents from the intensive care unit of Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport, La., according to ABC affiliate KTBS.

The CFO of Blessing Health System in Quincy, Ill., said the opening of a new 25-bed hospital in the community will lead to revenue losses, according to a May 4 report in the Herald-Whig. Quincy Medical Group, which is proposing the hospital, disagrees, and said the project will improve care coordination and clinical outcomes in the area.

As of May 7, more than 579,000 people in the U.S. had died after contracting COVID-19, according to The New York Times.

The number of births in the United States decreased by 4 percent from 2019 to 2020, marking the sixth consecutive year of decline and the lowest number since 1979, according to CDC data. 

New Orleans-based Ochsner Health is opening two personal protective equipment manufacturing facilities this year in Louisiana, the health system said May 3. 

Forty-four healthcare providers including Hartford HealthCare and Yale New Haven Health have joined Connecticut's statewide health information exchange, which went live May 3, the CT Mirror reports.

An audit requested by the governing board of Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City, N.M., found that several systemic management and oversight issues contributed to its financial woes, according to the Silver City Daily Press. 

Franciscan Health plans to cut 218 inpatient beds at its 100-year-old hospital in Hammond, Ind., according to The Times of Northwest Indiana.

More than 325,000 nurse practitioners were licensed to practice in the U.S. as of December 2020, marking a new high, according to an estimate the American Association of Nurse Practitioners released May 4.

Below are 11 hospitals, health systems or hospital operators that recently posted job listings seeking chief quality officers or quality directors.