Care Coordination

Chenango Memorial Hospital in Norwich, N.Y., part of Binghamton, N.Y.-based United Health Services, is closing its long-term care unit.

For hospitals and health systems, 2023 was the year of doing more with less. Persistent staff shortages and resource constraints, coupled with rising patient volumes, pushed many organizations to implement or expand innovative care delivery approaches this year.

The number of patients admitted with opioid use disorder and injection-related infections opting to be discharged against medical advice before completing treatment increased by 82% in 4 years, a recent Penn Medicine study found.

Windham (Conn.) Hospital, part of Hartford (Conn.) HealthCare, received approval from the state to end its labor and delivery services after a three-year process, the Connecticut Mirror reported Dec. 1.

Christus Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, will continue its emergency medicine program under an expanded partnership with the Nueces County Hospital District.

Lewis County Health System has completed a $32 million-dollar renovation of the surgical center at Lewis County General Hospital and plans to bring back maternity services at the hospital, North Country Public Radio reported Dec. 1.

Caring for patients in the emergency department when there are not enough inpatient beds — ED boarding — is a long-standing practice in hospitals that are over capacity. Not only does it risk patient safety, but clinicians say it's burning…

Rome (N.Y.) Health has lowered the age for patients it accepts who need inpatient psychiatric care. 

Following the highly contested closure of a birthing center at UMass Memorial Health's Leominster Hospital the Massachusetts Nurses Association has come out against it and is calling for the state to halt further shutdowns until a review is conducted. 

The COVID-19 pandemic shuffled up trends in emergency department volume, but many systems are seeing hundreds of thousands of patients a year.