Steve Aleman, CFO of Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare knows a thing or two about healthcare real estate acquisition.

The decision to close McCurtain Memorial Urgent Care - Hochatown near Broken Bow, Okla., on April 28 has sparked confusion and controversy between local political and healthcare leaders. 

Kathryn Torres, senior vice president of payer contracting and alignment for Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare, sold 1,863 shares of the company's stock on May 2 and May 3, according to a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. 

Medical Properties Trust, one of the world's largest hospital real estate owners and landlord to Dallas-based Steward Health Care, approved $75 million in debtor-in-possession financing for the health system after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Oakland-based Kaiser Foundation Hospitals is laying off 76 employees in California, primarily in IT and marketing, according to regulatory documents filed with the state May 1. 

CMS has rescinded its April 11 determination to terminate Modesto, Calif.-based Stanislaus Surgical Hospital's Medicare contract.

Medicare's hospital insurance trust fund is expected to run out in 2036, five years later than the fund's trustees projected last year. 

Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare started 2024 with a hospital selling spree that netted nearly $4 billion in gross proceeds. 

Dallas, Texas-based Steward Health Care filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 6. 

Douglas Arvin, West Market vice president and CFO of Essentia Health, has deployed multiple strategies to improve access and margin performance over the last few years.

Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine saw more than 5,800 patient transfers in the nine months ending March 31, a 16% increase from the same period a year earlier, according to a May 6 report from The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Dallas, Texas-based Steward Health Care filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will receive millions in financing from Medical Properties Trust to maintain operations at existing hospitals and clinics, according to a May 6 health system news release.

Philadelphia-based Rite Aid has said since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy seven months ago that it will close more than 520 locations, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of court records.  

Hospitals and health systems are at a crossroads of increasing demand for higher acuity care and deepening financial instability, caused by rising costs due to ongoing workforce shortages, severe fractures in the drugs and supplies supply chain and high levels of inflation, according to a May 2 report published by the American Hospital Association. 

Expenses per provider remained considerably higher than revenue generated in the first quarter of 2024, although there are signs the gap could be closing, according to the Kaufman Hall "Physician Flash Report," released May 2.

Miami-based Nicklaus Children's Hospital's credit rating was upgraded to "AA-" from A+ by Fitch. 

Four of the largest for-profit hospital operators reported mixed financial results in the first quarter of 2024; three systems reported increases in first-quarter net income while one system posted a net loss for the third consecutive first quarter: 

A proposal making its way through the Delaware legislature would "devastatingly weaken" Lewes, Del.-based Beebe Healthcare and other community hospitals, its CEO David Tam, MD, said in an op-ed posted on the health system's website. 

Multiple hospitals and health systems have suffered downgrades to their financial ratings this year amid rising expenses, ongoing operating losses and challenging work environments.

The number of headlines and scientific journal articles attacking private equity as a central reason for many of the issues facing U.S. health care delivery appears to grow by the day.