Displaying items by tag: health care

Michigan slipped six spots in RAND Corp.’s latest analysis of what hospitals in the U.S. charge private health insurers compared to what they receive from Medicare.

Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services’ psychiatric urgent care center has served more than 13,500 patients since opening in 2019, a volume that exceeded expectations and accelerated as the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on mental health.

The union representing registered nurses at Trinity Health Muskegon has agreed to terms on a new contract with the health system that will pay them higher wages as well as retention and other one-time bonuses.

GRAND RAPIDS — CMS Energy and Spectrum Health West Michigan are partnering on a new solar energy project that will help meet the power needs at a planned 80-bed subacute rehabilitation center on the city’s northeast side.

KALAMAZOO — Stryker Corp. recorded a solid first-quarter sales gain despite supply chain issues and staffing shortages at hospitals that delayed the installation of capital medical equipment.

GRAND RAPIDS — A $120 million investment by the federal government will fund a large share of the cost for Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing Inc.’s latest expansion.

GRAND RAPIDS — Spectrum Health recorded a smaller bottom line for 2021 as health systems nationally were ailing from COVID-19 case surges and staff shortages that drove up labor costs. 

ALLENDALE — University of Michigan Health-West has opened a new outpatient medical center in Allendale.

GRAND RAPIDS — BHSH System will put $19 million toward increasing the talent pipeline for nurses who earn their degree at Grand Valley State University, officials announced today.

CALEDONIA — Aspen Surgical Products Inc. has received additional capital from Boston-based Audax Private Equity to support further growth.

Executives at North Ottawa Community Health System and Trinity Health, the Livonia-based parent company of Mercy Health, have signed a non-binding letter of intent to explore the potential of a merger between the two systems.

Michigan Professional Insurance Exchange, a Grand Rapids-based provider of professional medical liability coverage for health systems and care providers, has signed an agreement to sell to a Minnesota company.

With the financial backing of several Michigan-based health care companies, generic drug manufacturer CivicaRx is preparing to produce low-cost insulin within the next two years.

GRAND HAVEN —  North Ottawa Community Health System would become part of Trinity Health, the parent company of Mercy Health in West Michigan, if the two are able to finalize a merger agreement that was announced today.

Mercy Health and a Pennsylvania operator of psychiatric hospitals could get final approval soon to build a new inpatient facility in Kent County.

Proposed legislation in Lansing would streamline the process for North Ottawa Community Health System in Grand Haven, and potentially other Michigan community hospitals, to partner with a larger health system.

The high cost of medical claims tied to the COVID-19 pandemic drove Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to a loss in 2021 on its core health insurance business.

ALLEGAN — Perrigo Co. plc gained momentum toward the end of 2021 as sales in its key cough and cold medication segment rebounded and the company moves forward as a consumer self-care company.

Legislation allocating $1.2 billion in pandemic relief funding that’s now headed to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her signature includes $300 million to help health care providers retain and attract staff.

COVID-19 hospitalizations across Michigan declined again during the last week, continuing a trend after peaking about a month ago.

The new health system that Spectrum Health and Beaumont Health plan to launch Tuesday will have considerable market clout in the Michigan health care market, raising concerns about the potential effect on costs.

West Michigan hospitals are delaying care, shifting staff and repurposing spaces — among other measures — in response to the latest COVID-19 surge that’s pushing systems and workers. 

Business advocates hailed Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that halted President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for larger employers.

GRAND RAPIDS — Spectrum Health plans to spend $151 million to develop three new outpatient medical centers in downtown and rural markets north of Grand Rapids.

Michigan is poised to see a “very sharp crest” in the coming weeks in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations as the delta and omicron virus variants sicken thousands more people in a post-holiday surge, according to state health officials.

KALAMAZOO — Stryker Corp. plans to buy health care software company Vocera Communications Inc. for nearly $3 billion.

The planned merger between Spectrum Health and Beaumont Health sent shockwaves through Michigan’s health care community, and aspects of the blockbuster proposal accounted for half of MiBiz’s 10 most-read health care stories in 2021.

GRAND RAPIDS — Spectrum Health can temporarily add another 54 inpatient hospital beds in Grand Rapids should a surge in patients from the COVID-19 pandemic worsen in the coming weeks.

MUSKEGON — Mercy Health Muskegon will get federal support to care for a surge in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

GRAND RAPIDS — Mercy Health and behavioral health care provider Network180 are partnering to open a new Behavioral Health Crisis Center in Grand Rapids next year.