UPMC signed a new agreement with Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan to grow its medical residency program and form an academic medical center, the health system said March 23.

Piedmont Columbus (Ga.) Regional has announced plans to renovate a former hospital location into a freestanding children's hospital.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education approved a plan by Worcester, Mass.-based UMass Chan Medical School and Burlington, Mass.-based Lahey Hospital and Medical Center to build a new campus in Burlington, masslive.com reported March 23.

Erie, Pa.-based LECOM Health Millcreek Community Hospital broke ground on a new emergency department and intensive care unit, yourerie.com reported March 23.

Holy Cross Health in Silver Spring, Md., is hitting the pause button on two projects costing $45 million total, the Washington Business Journal reported March 22.

UCHealth Greeley (Colo.) Hospital completed an expansion project that added a 12-bed progressive care unit and 20-bed acute care unit to its fourth floor, the GreeleyTribune reported March 21.

Sovah Health, part of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health, said the emergency room renovations at its Danville, Va., site are now budgeted at more than $20 million compared with an original estimate of $12 million, according to a March 22 Danville Register & Bee report.

Vituity, a physician-owned multispeciality partnership, is partnering with the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt to eliminate $127 million in medical debt for 208,622 patients in Illinois and Georgia.

UnityPoint Health St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, completed its $14 million renovation of its surgical specialty unit, Iowa's News Now reported March 21.

Fairhope, Ala.-based Thomas Hospital wrote a letter to Rep. Jerry Carl seeking federal funding for a 30-bed expansion, local CBS affiliate WKRG reported March 21.

Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center will build a new $70 million, 60,000-square-foot outpatient facility at a former Sears site on the West Side, NBC Chicago reported March 21.

A $5 million gift from philanthropists Mandy and Dennis Weinman will contribute to the construction of a new cancer care building at Baltimore-based LifeBridge Health Sinai Hospital, The Daily Record reported March 20.

Phoenix-based Banner Health, a 30-hospital system, is purchasing about 48 acres of land in Scottsdale, Ariz., on which to build a medical campus.

Mechanicsburg, Pa.-based Select Medical, a network of critical illness recovery hospitals, will build a new 63-bed hospital in Orlando, Fla.

Film and TV producer and writer Chuck Lorre has donated $30 million to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to develop a school for underserved individuals seeking to pursue a career in healthcare.

Unity Health-Jacksonville (Ark.) opened the first emergency room floor of its $36 million hospital project, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported March 17.

Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health is investing $14 million to build a new oncology building across from its Edison-based JFK University Medical Center.

Cape Coral (Fla.) Hospital, part of Fort Myers, Fla.-based Lee Health, is adding 12 beds and a second floor to its intensive care unit, local news outlet Fox4 reported March 16.

Phoenix, Ariz.-based Banner Health sold its Peoria, Ariz.-based Banner Health Center for $29 million, with plans to lease it back from the new owner, the Phoenix Business Journal reported March 17.

New York City-based Montefiore Health System has announced that an anonymous donor contributed $100 million to Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, N.Y., one of the largest gifts in the college's history.