South Region news and information

HOUSTON—Catholic Health Initiatives will acquire six-hospital St. Luke's Episcopal Health System in Houston, pending regulatory approvals. The Texas Episcopal Diocese approved the definitive agreement, which includes a $1 billion investment from Englewood, Colo.-based CHI. CHI will...
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Nearly a year after a Kentucky hospital sued the state over its expanded Medicaid managed-care program, Gov. Steve Beshear has unveiled an “aggressive plan” to resolve payment disputes between payers and providers.
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BATON ROUGE, La.—Plans to privatize most of Louisiana State University's public hospitals means borrowing for repairs and construction of the health facilities will be taxable. That borrowing will cost the state more. The Louisiana State Bond Commission learned that bonds issued for...
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A medical school partnership between Ochsner Health System and an Australian university has graduated its first nine students.
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Florida hospital officials are lobbying lawmakers to expand Medicaid coverage to roughly 1 million residents under the federal healthcare law. A rally last week in Tallahassee came a day after a Senate panel voted against traditional Medicaid expansion and instead...
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Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who swiftly rejected Medicaid expansion under health reform after last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed states to do so, called for the state to expand the safety net program for three years, or as long as federal tax dollars cover all the costs.
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IRVING, Texas—Christus Health, a Catholic not-for-profit health system, announced that it plans to enter into a joint venture with Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, a Chilean university owned by the Catholic Church. The memorandum of understanding signed by the two provides for...
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NORMAN, Okla.—The Federal Trade Commission bestowed a rare approval on a proposed arrangement between a large group of Oklahoma doctors and a local hospital, even though people involved with the new network admit that they plan to raise some prices. In a 21-page advisory opinion, FTC...
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ATLANTA—SunLink Health Systems is planning to delist its shares and sell underperforming facilities. All four of its hospitals are currently underperforming and it has hired advisers to evaluate the sale of at least two of them, the system said in a news release. SunLink's hospitals...
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BATON ROUGE, La.—Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration scrapped plans to shutter Louisiana's Medicaid hospice program in February. Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein announced the reversal as hospice program supporters were gathering for a candlelight vigil on the state...
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