Employees in Minnesota face some of the highest annual health insurance costs in the nation, according to a ranking from Yahoo Finance.

Rite Aid has hired Texanna Reeves to be vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for the company. 

St. Cloud (Minn.) State University and the University of Minnesota are working to advance primary care services in rural communities by developing a new Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree program, according to a Dec. 1 news release. 

Reno, Nev.-based Renown Health's CEO is speaking out against a tweet shared by President Donald Trump that falsely claims Renown's alternative COVID-19 unit is "fake."

Between February and July, 34 patients at a New Jersey hospital acquired carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumanni infection or colonization, according to the CDC's Dec. 1 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The bacteria can lead to pneumonia and wound, blood stream and urinary tract infections. 

Ten hospitals and health systems recently posted job listings seeking revenue cycle management expertise.

Clay Holderman was named president and CEO of West Des Moines, Iowa-based UnityPoint Health, and Sanjeeb Khatua, MD, was named to those same roles at the health system's clinic enterprise, UnityPoint Clinic, officials said Dec. 1. 

Both Pfizer and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines are safe, and about 10 percent to 15 percent of recipients reported side effects that were "significantly noticeable," CNBC reported Dec. 1. 

More than 70 employees of Wheeling (W.Va.) Hospital are sidelined with COVID-19 or quarantined due to potential exposure to the virus, according to WTRF. 

United Airlines carried the first mass air shipment of COVID-19 vaccines last week from Brussels to Chicago, CNBC reported. 

Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital and Tampa-based USF Health have created a joint office of clinical research to combine resources and work more closely on clinical trials, the organizations announced Nov. 30. 

A team of Durham, N.C.-based Duke University researchers partnered with Microsoft to create a ventilator splitting system to help COVID-19 patients in the wake of hospital surges and potential supply shortages, according to a Dec. 1 Microsoft blog post.

Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Mellon University teamed up with Nashville, Tenn.-based data analytics firm Change Healthcare to launch an updated COVID-19 indicators forecasting tool, according to a Dec. 1 news release.

The MetroHealth System in Cleveland received a $42 million pledge from JoAnn and Bob Glick, the largest gift in its 183-year history. 

Increased digital access by patients and widespread adaptation of artificial intelligence will be some of the main drivers of digital transformation in healthcare over the next few years, according to Daniel Marchalik, MD.

A team of drugmakers has created a version of the HIV drug dolutegravir made specifically for infants, which will be available through a partnership with global public health organizations, The New York Times reported. 

Hospitals and health systems must stay on the lookout for Ryuk ransomware, which is one of the newest and biggest cyber threats emerging in the industry, according to the American Medical Association.

The FDA is ending the Unapproved Drugs Initiative, which was created in 2006 to reduce the number of drugs on the market that didn't go through the FDA approval process. 

A bipartisan group of senators introduced a COVID-19 relief proposal Dec. 1 worth about $908 billion, according to The Washington Post.

Joseph Scopelliti, MD, is retiring as president and CEO of the Guthrie Clinic, the Sayre, Pa.-based health system said Dec. 1.