51ÊÓƵ

A ransomware attack on a health system in New Jersey is forcing two hospitals in the state to divert patients coming to their emergency rooms to other facilities. ... EMS personnel and patients coming to Mountainside Medical Center's emergency room in Montclair had to be diverted to other facilities Monday, according to a hospital spokesperson. Ardent Health Services, which runs the hospital, blamed the move on a ransomware attack. (Sloan, 11/27)

As nonprofit hospitals’ expenses rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, they provided proportionally less free or discounted care, also known as charity care. But the trend may shift as Medicaid beneficiaries lose coverage and as lawmakers ramp up pressure on providers. Nonprofit hospitals’ median operating costs jumped roughly 20% from 2020 to 2022 ... The increase may explain, in part, why health systems’ median charity care as a percentage of operating expenses declined from 1.21% to 0.99% over that time period. (Kacik, 11/27)

After an eight-week trial in Venice, a jury this month held Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital liable for mistreatment of Maya Kowalski. The St. Petersburg hospital now must pay over $260 million in damages. In June, a Netflix documentary called “Take Care of Maya" was released. It shares the Kowalski family's emotional story about the care Maya received when she visited the hospital in 2016. (Bowman, 11/27)

51ÊÓƵ Health News: Back Pain? Bum Knee? Be Prepared To Wait For A Physical Therapist 

At no point along his three-year path to earning a degree in physical therapy has Matthew Lee worried about getting a job. Being able to make a living off that degree? That’s a different question — and the answer is affecting the supply of physical therapists across the nation: The cost of getting trained is out of proportion to the pay. (Kreidler, 11/28)