Hospital Closures Need Help
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3D Printing & Healthcare
The development of synthetic vessels could help limit scarring, pain and infection risk associated with the removal of human veins in bypass operations of which some 20,000 are carried out in England each year. The products could also help alleviate the failure of small synthetic grafts, which can be hard to integrate into the body.
In a two-stage process, a team of researchers led by the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering used a rotating spindle integrated into a 3D printer to print tubular grafts made from a water-based gel.
They subsequently reinforced the printed graft in a process known as electrospinning, which uses high voltage to draw out very thin nanofibers, coating the artificial blood vessel in biodegradable polyester molecules.
Tests showed the resulting products to be as strong as natural blood vessels.
Further testing with animals is the next step. (University of Edinburgh)
Hospital Closures - We Can Help
introduced new legislation to protect communities from sudden hospital closures that interrupt care and leave patients without access to the essential services they need to stay healthy. The Hospital Stability and Health Services (HSHS) Act - S. 4777, would require closing hospital systems to notify the Department of Health and Human Services and develop a plan with public input to connect patients with accessible care.
ervices (HHS) and allow HHS to request a mitigation plan to ensure patients can still access the care they need. The legislation requires hospitals to notify HHS at least 90 days prior to the discontinuation of services or a full hospital closure. During the notification period, hospitals are prohibited from discontinuing essential services unless continuing to provide the service would be dangerous to patients or employees.
If HHS determines that the closure would negatively affect access to care, the hospital must submit a plan to HHS that outlines how they will maintain essential services for the community through partnerships with surrounding facilities, including patient transportation plans, and support the transition of health care employees to other positions. This mitigation plan would be available for public comment to ensure community input, and the agency can work with the hospital to develop an alternative plan should the original proposal be insufficient. The bill will also require an annual report to Congress on hospital closure trends and the capacity of the health care system to meet surge demands.
Full text of this legislation is available here. It is S. 4777
Communities become devastated when hospitals close - this bill can help.
ACTION
Call or email your senators and ask them to bolster healthcare in communities where hospitals choose to close their doors. You can reach them at this link, https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials.
Or use RESISTBOT via [Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER] or by texting SIGN PPZAGK to 50409 on your cell phone to send that message to our Senators.
“I am your constituent and I want you to know that hospital closures can be dangerous and deadly. There is a bill that was just introduced in the Senate called The Hospital Stability and Health Services (HSHS) Act - S. 4777.
The legislation requires hospitals to notify HHS at least 90 days prior to the discontinuation of services or a full hospital closure. During the notification period, hospitals are prohibited from discontinuing essential services unless continuing to provide the service would be dangerous to patients or employees.
If HHS determines that the closure would negatively affect access to care, the hospital must submit a plan to HHS that outlines how they will maintain essential services for the community through partnerships with surrounding facilities, including patient transportation plans, and support the transition of health care employees to other positions.
The bill is still being loaded into congress.gov but Senator Baldwin has posted the text here for you to read, https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/download/hshs-act-bill-text.
I know you care about all your constituents and want to help them This bill will help. Please cosponsor and enact the S. 4777, the Hospital Stability and Health Services Act. Thank you.”
Private Equity and Hospitals
After private-equity firms acquire hospitals, the facilities’ assets and resources diminish significantly, leaving the facilities less equipped to care for patients, according to a new study by physician researchers at the University of California at San Francisco, Harvard Medical School and the City University of New York’s Hunter College. Published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the research highlights a pattern of asset stripping at health care facilities purchased by private-equity firms, its researchers said, and is the first study to analyze the activity nationwide.
Private-equity firms borrow money to buy companies that they hope to sell in a few years at a profit. Independent academic research shows that such leveraged buyouts result in far more bankruptcies than acquisitions that do not use so much debt and the deals can result in significant job losses for rank-and-file workers.
Assets studied in the research consist of land, buildings, major hospital equipment and information technology. The study found that during the two years after a private-equity acquisition, total capital assets at private equity-acquired hospitals declined by 15% on average while assets rose by an average of 9% at other hospitals. That makes for a net difference of 24%, the researchers found, equivalent to a loss of $28 million in total assets per hospital.
The research studied 156 hospitals acquired by private-equity firms from 2010 to 2019 comparing them with 1,560 hospitals of similar size in similar communities that were not bought by private equity. The pattern of diminished assets persisted and widened five years after acquisition, the study found.
This isn’t just cutting staff - it is sucking the money out of the hospital to give to the investors and then leaving the asset broke, and patients in the lurch. This is done by selling assets to another company and forcing the hospital to pay rent/lease the land, buildings, equipment back. Those profits from the sale of the assets are distributed quickly to investors and leave the hospital ill equipped to stay in business and care for their patients.
This kind of rape and pillage attack is not unique to the healthcare industry, of course. The Red Lobster restaurant chain failed in part because its private-equity owner sold off the company’s prime real estate, generating gains for itself. (NBC)
Lecture/Notes on Private Equity
I have delivered lectures on private equity in the healthcare industry to communities that were seeking to keep public facilities public. If you’d like my presentation or would like me to present to your group just let me know in the comment section.
Resources
Find My Elected Officials
Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email
Healthcare Advocacy (Us) Website
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare - Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Important Healthcare Resources
League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit
Organizations to Contact
National Nurses United Medicare4All
Physicians for a National Health Program
One Payer States
Healthcare Now
Reproductive Health
NARAL - Pro Choice America
Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion
Planned Parenthood
Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.
United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.
Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.
If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org
Claims Denials and Appeals & What to Do
Appeal a Healthcare Decision
Appeal/Negotiate a Hospital Bill
Disinformation Management
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency
Save Democracy
Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens
RESISTBOT
Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more
Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water RESISTBOT write up
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