Priority Health plans to give large employers a rebate early next year on their employee health coverage, a result of lower medical claims from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As reports continue to rank Michigan as one of the least competitive markets in the nation, the statewide trade group representing HMOs wants to ensure that insurance carriers are able to pursue business when employers bid out employee health coverage.

Bronson Methodist Hospital and Ascension Borgess in Kalamazoo were named among the top 50 heart hospitals in the U.S. by Fortune and IBM Watson Health.

Compared to a year ago, fewer bankers expect their institutions to make an acquisition in the next 12 months, as they focus on navigating through the financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

College students graduating this fall or next spring should expect to face a softer job market than in the past several years as a result of the pandemic-related economic downturn.

GRAND RAPIDS — The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients that Spectrum Health is treating could surge far higher by early December if present infection rates continue unabated.

University of Michigan economists expect Congress to pass further federal stimulus packages during the lame-duck session and in early 2021 as pressure for relief mounts during a nationwide COVID-19 surge.

Even with new COVID-19 restrictions in place for the next three weeks, Michigan sits “well positioned” to eventually recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new Comerica Inc. outlook.

MUSKEGON — Mercy Health Muskegon plans to open a care unit Thursday at the Hackley campus to handle a surge in COVID-19 patients.

After hospitalizations statewide doubled in just two weeks, health care executives across Michigan are emphasizing the need for people to follow public health guidelines to get the spread of the coronavirus back under control.

As the COVID-19 pandemic surges, hospitals have the ability to add the beds needed to handle the influx of patients.

MUSKEGON — Mercy Health Muskegon has begun to delay elective surgeries as needed and is weighing whether to open additional emergency beds as COVID-19 cases surge.

Grand Rapids Area Black Businesses and the West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce received $75,000 each from Flagstar Bank to offer grants to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

HOLLAND — Raising nearly $21.6 million gives Shoulder Innovations Inc. the capital needed to scale up operations and bring new products to market.

 GRAND RAPIDS — Perrigo Co. plc’s planned North America headquarters in downtown Grand Rapids adds a major new player to the Medical Mile academic, research and health care cluster as well as a potential new partner for Michigan State University.

ST. JOSEPH — The proposed acquisition of Edgewater Bancorp Inc. would give United Federal Credit Union greater expertise to further grow commercial lending.

Against the backdrop of what behavioral health experts say is a worsening crisis in the COVID-19 pandemic, state lawmakers are weighing a number of bills to increase access to mental health care in Michigan.

GRAND RAPIDS — Spectrum Health plans to develop two new facilities for rehabilitation and nursing home care in Grand Rapids, plus a third center specializing in outpatient orthopedic surgeries.

Dr. Jurgen Luders connected years ago with Golden, Colo.-based Reven Pharmaceuticals Inc. after a friend and former colleague at the Cleveland Clinic told him about his own involvement with the company. Luders visited Reven to learn more and ended up joining its advisory board. He later became medical director at Reven, which is developing a powerful anti-inflammatory drug called Rejuveinix, or RJX, that shows promise in preventing and reversing conditions caused by inflammation. Luders — the chief of neurosurgery at Mercy Health Hauenstein Neurosciences who is board certified in regenerative medicine — spoke with MiBiz about his work with Reven, RJX’s potential for treating COVID-19 patients, and innovation in health care.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants state lawmakers to enact legislation requiring people in Michigan to wear a face mask.

KALAMAZOO — Western Michigan University will cut ties with Cooley Law School, ending an affiliation that began seven years ago and was supposed to lead to further joint programs.

Grand Rapids-based home health care provider Atrio Home Health Lakeshore was already looking for a telehealth platform to remotely monitor clients’ conditions before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stryker Corp. will have to divest ankle and finger implant businesses under a proposed agreement with federal trade regulators to allow a $4 billion deal to proceed with Wright Medical Group N.V., a Netherlands-based maker of various orthopedic products.

Mercantile Bank’s move into Ohio with the opening of a Cincinnati mortgage lending office will allow the Grand Rapids-based bank to “put a flag down there,” bank officials say.

Chief executives expect the state and U.S. economies to stabilize or perform better in the months ahead and continue to rebound from sharp pandemic-related declines in the spring.

Officials at large West Michigan health systems say they are now treating as many COVID-19 patients as they did back in the spring when the pandemic hit hard, brought daily routines to a halt and hospitalizations were at their peak.

Health insurance open enrollment for 2021 starts Nov. 1 with small increases in rates for individual and small employer health care policies.