House Speaker Destin Hall isn’t inclined to join the parade of elected officials criticizing the proposed WakeMed/Atrium hospital-system merger. “Both of them certainly know what they’re doing, and I imagine they’ll get it figured out, one way or the other, and I hope they do that without us having to have any involvement with it […]
WakeMed and Atrium Health need to come to the table “prepared to answer” concerns about whether their proposed merger will fuel or moderate healthcare cost increases, Senate leader Phil Berger says. But Berger signaled on Tuesday that while the deal bears “some digging into,” he’s inclined to let the Wake County Commissioners do the digging. […]
House Democrats have lined up behind a merger-oversight bill for hospitals that’s substantively identical to the one Sen. Jim Burgin, R-Harnett, introduced on April 30. “We want a process to be followed,” Rep. Sarah Crawford, D-Wake, said Monday during a caucus news conference on a quartet of healthcare bills. “We want to be transparent and […]
WakeMed officials say cost-cutting pressure from the federal and state governments and competition from UNC Health and Duke Health mean they have no choice but to find what they’re calling a “strategic partner.” “The reality as we look five, 10 and 25 years ahead, we know WakeMed cannot continue to provide the healthcare this county […]
Wake County Commissioners have agreed to delay consideration of a contract change that would clear the way for the proposed WakeMed/Atrium Health merger. The delay will last for at least 90 days, commissioners say. It will “provide time for the hospitals to engage with the community,” answer questions and make changes to address any concerns,” […]
If history is any guide, the impending merger of WakeMed with Charlotte-based Atrium Health “will not benefit the public,” State Treasurer Brad Briner says. “There is a simple business principle that when suppliers consolidate and competition is reduced it is the consumers who suffer,” he said after the two hospital systems announced their deal. “This has been proven to be true […]
The House’s property-tax committee is scrutinizing the tax breaks North Carolina gives its nonprofit hospitals, but a couple of its rank-and-file members are speaking up against the idea of making major changes. Legislative staffers on Wednesday told the panel the property and sales-tax breaks the hospitals receive cost city and county governments across the state a […]
Novant Health says its $336.4 million proposal to build a 50-bed acute-care hospital on the southwestern outskirts of Kannapolis is partially intended to bring some much-needed competition to the region health-care sector. Its construction would offer “a vital alternative to Atrium Health,” which is currently “the sole provider of acute care” services in Cabarrus County, […]
Medical providers have filed new certificate-of-need applications that could result in almost $772 million of capital spending if all their projects get approved by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Four projects out of the 27 would account for the bulk of the cost: Novant Health wants to build a 50-bed acute-care hospital in […]
Back in August, we reported that the state’s nursing and medical boards were jointly considering a rules change, requested by Duke Health and Atrium Health, to allow some nurses more latitude to deal with end-of-life situations. The proposal would give registered nurses and licensed practical nurses authority to issue do-not-resuscitate orders and pronounce a patient’s […]
North Carolina’s certificate of need law could be living on borrowed time, in the fervent hopes of some doctors and conservative groups, but for now it’s still in place and still something the healthcare sector has to reckon with. The state Department of Health and Human Services received 20 applications in October for certificates that […]
