More than 300,000 accountants and auditors have quit since January 2021, and some accounting firms are no longer performing external audits for businesses, The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 18.

Flint, Mich.-based Insight has signed a letter of intent to take over the shuttered Keokuk Area Hospital in Iowa, according to a Jan. 19 report from NBC affiliate WGEM.

Middlesex Hospital recorded its 32nd straight year of positive operating income in fiscal 2022 even as the Middletown, Conn.-based system faced the familiar challenges of supply chain issues and a tight labor market.

A district court on Jan. 18 affirmed HHS' decision to deny Lancaster (S.C.) Hospital Corp. Medicare reimbursement for 1997 because it failed to submit information supporting the payment request, according to Bloomberg. 

The U.S. hit its $31.4 billion debt limit, prompting the Treasury Department to employ accounting maneuvers designed to buy a few months' time for lawmakers to raise or suspend the cap, The New York Times reported Jan. 19.

While many leaders see a global recession as likely or already here, it is more the conundrum of what to do with the workforce in such a macro environment that presents the biggest challenge in 2023 and beyond, according to Mercer's "2023 Executive Outlook Study."

Conifer Health Solutions President and CEO Roger Davis is retiring at the end of the first quarter of 2023. 

Mississippi is in the midst of a hospital crisis, with at least 38 statewide at risk of closing — more than half of the state's rural hospitals — including Greenwood Leflore Hospital, which is the largest in the Mississippi Delta region.

Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare said Jan. 19 it expects to beat the midpoint of its 2022 adjusted EBITDA outlook range included in its third quarter 2022 earnings report.

Hospital and health system executives aim to strengthen resilience and readiness in preparation for an economic downturn, but most CEOs and CFOs do not see a recession as a barrier to growth, according to Mercer's "2023 Executive Outlook" survey. 

Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System has seen its credit rating downgraded as a result of operational challenges resulting from labor pressure as well as from disruption related to the implementation of a new IT system.

Hospitals and health systems in Virginia generate approximately $60 billion annually in positive economic activity even as about a third of the state's rural hospitals operate in the red, according to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association.

Texas holds more hospitals than any other state, and it holds the most rural hospitals at risk of closing of any state. However, it also has its fair share of financially successful hospitals.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis claimed in his State of the State address that one key reason healthcare costs so much is that hospitals are overcharging patients, with some large health systems posting record profits and sitting on significant cash reserves, according to CPR News. The Colorado Hospital Association disputes these claims.

Rural hospitals are often the most vulnerable to economic pressures, but there is no shortage of success stories for leaders to learn from and emulate, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. 

Colorado hospitals' operating margins have dropped 49 percent below 2019 levels, with most hospitals in the state operating under "unsustainable financial situations," according to data published by the Colorado Hospital Association. 

Orlando (Fla.) Health has been upgraded to "AA-" because of its sustained operating performance, healthy financial position and strong local market share, Fitch Ratings said.

Hundreds of hospitals in the U.S. are at immediate risk of closing, largely due not to financial mismanagement but inadequate reimbursements, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. 

It's a familiar story: hospital and healthcare systems reporting substantial losses amid labor challenges and poorer returns on investment portfolios.

Revenue Cycle Management company Ventra Health has named Darshan Patel president of emergency and hospital medicine.