All 99 of North Carolina's eligible hospitals have opted into the state's plan to relieve $4 billion in medical debt for about 2 million low and middle-income people.

The healthcare industry has traditionally been slow to change, but it's changing rapidly now, and health systems need to adapt and evolve to grow, according to Kyle Fisher, CFO of Indianapolis-based Community Health Network. 

Hospitals' latest financial results point to the beginning of a slow and sustained recovery, Fitch Ratings said in an Aug. 12 report shared with Becker's.

North Carolina is attempting to resurrect a closed hospital as a rural emergency hospital, NC Health News reported Aug. 12. If successful, it will be the first such revival of its kind in the U.S.

Nonprofit hospital rating downgrades outpaced upgrades in the last year, a trend that is expected to continue although the pace of downgrades is slowing, according to an Aug. 7 S&P report focused on nonprofit acute healthcare medians in 2023.

A third Dallas-based Steward Health Care hospital in Massachusetts could face closure as a potential owner has altered its bid, the Massachusetts Nursing Association said in an Aug. 12 news release. 

Fitch has upgraded the rating of Memorial Hospital at Gulfport (Miss.) from 'BBB-' to 'BBB.'

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente reported an operating income of $908 million in the second quarter, up from $741 million in the same period last year. Its operating margin grew from 2.9% in the second quarter of 2023 to 3.1% in the second quarter of this year. 

Clearwater, Fla.-based BayCare Health System maintained a Fitch AA rating and a Moody AA2 rating, highlighting the health system's strong finances after undergoing corporate restructuring and receiving approval for a $1.9 billion bond, according to an Aug. 9 news release.

Large health systems publicly reported billions in profits for the first half of 2024 and Kaufman Hall data shows a strong uptick in year over year hospital margins. Average operating margins reached nearly 5% in January, up from 2.7% in the previous month, and have hovered between 4.4% and 4.1% since then.

An executive at Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare has offloaded nearly $3 million in shares of the company amid the health system's rapid investment in ambulatory surgery centers and sale of hospitals. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued an executive order ordering hospitals in the state to collect information on undocumented immigrants receiving inpatient and emergency care, and to report healthcare costs incurred as a result. 

Dallas-based Steward Health Care's landlord, Medical Properties Trust, one of the world's largest hospital real estate owners, saw a $321 million net loss for the second quarter of 2024, ended June 30, a significant increase from the $42 million loss during the same period in 2023.

Two nonprofit organizations are suing Fresno, Calif.-based Community Health System, alleging it has misused $1 billion in tax dollars intended to serve low-income patients. The health system has called the claim inaccurate and baseless.

As hospitals and health systems work to adapt to a post-pandemic world, the evolution of big tech and retail companies like Amazon and CVS Health, who are navigating pathways deeper into healthcare, can give pause to many healthcare leaders. ButJan Grigsby, CFO of Brunswick-based Southeast Georgia Health System, welcomes the change. 

R1 RCM expects the Ascension ransomware attack to drag down its revenue by between $75 million and $95 million in 2024, primarily because of a delay in timing of revenue from the second half of 2024 into the first half of 2025, executives said Aug. 7 during the company's second-quarter earnings call.

Walgreens shared in an Aug. 7 Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it could sell off its entire stake in primary care clinic chain VillageMD.

When Dallas-based Steward Health Care shared plans to close two of its Massachusetts hospitals and lay off 1,243 employees, its CEO, Ralph de la Torre, MD, was in France at Versailles for the equestrian 2024 Olympic events, according to the Boston Globe. 

R1 RCM reported revenues of $627.9 million in the second quarter, up $67.2 million (12%) over the same period last year, according to financial results published Aug. 7.

Median days cash on hand dipped to a 10-year low for U.S. hospitals and health systems, according to an Aug. 7 S&P Global Ratings' report.