Georgia’s year-old hospital tax has moved a step closer to being back on the table at the state Legislature. The board of the Georgia Hospital Association this week voted to advance a new formula for the tax, levied for the first time last year. The tax has created winners and losers among hospitals, generally depending…
Despite uncertain government funding, two metro Atlanta hospitals are poised to expand the area’s trauma network. State regulators are expected to visit the Atlanta Medical Center this month to determine whether it should be elevated to a Level 1 trauma center, the kind that handles the most serious cases. The downtown hospital has operated a…
The sweeping revamp of Georgia mental health system will get its first big test in Rome. State officials said Thursday that the state-run psychiatric hospital in that city will close June 30. The shutdown of Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital will reflect a cost-savings push by state government. It also follows Georgia’s agreement in October with…
Kim Ingram woke up at 5:30 a.m. Monday and saw the snow piled about 8 inches high at her Rabun County home. “This may be the big one,’’ she said to herself. It took 25 minutes for Ingram’s four-wheel drive to crawl the five miles to Mountain Lakes Medical Center, where she is CEO. The…
One state with a compelling storyline in health care is Florida. It’s because of the new guy in charge. Rick Scott had a history as a health care empire builder prior to winning the Florida governorship. Part of his legacy, though, isn’t altogether flattering. Scott’s political rise featured a long-shot candidacy. A Republican, he financed…
The Medicaid false claims case that snagged a former health system CEO has now extended to a Thomasville hospital. The U.S. Justice Department announced Wednesday that John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital has paid $13.9 million to the federal government to settle charges that the hospital submitted false claims to the Georgia Medicaid program. The hospital…
The hospital authority that owns Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital has agreed to purchase its longtime Albany competitor Palmyra Medical Center for $195 million. The acquisition, announced Tuesday, would cement Phoebe Putney’s dominant position in the southwest Georgia market. Phoebe and Palmyra have battled for years for patients in the region. The nonprofit Phoebe, though, has…
Earlier this week, the Georgia Hospital Association convened a meeting in Macon of representatives of hospitals across the state. The topic was taxes. But not the kind that individuals and corporations pay. The Georgia General Assembly earlier this year passed a tax on hospitals to help fill a financial hole in the state’s Medicaid program, which…
An unsolicited $3.3 billion bid by Community Health Systems for Tenet Healthcare, announced Thursday, would have an impact in Georgia. Each company owns hospitals in the state, though in very different markets. Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health, which operates or leases 126 hospitals nationally, has Trinity Hospital of Augusta and Fannin Regional Hospital in Blue Ridge. The…
In terms of health care fixes, it was a two-for-one deal on Capitol Hill. The House of Representatives, by an overwhelming vote Thursday, approved a 12-month delay in the impending 25 percent pay cut for doctors treating Medicare patients. The Senate had already approved an identical bill, and President Obama has indicated he will sign the measure into…