Demand For Transparency Rises As Nonprofit Hospitals Start To Resemble Big Business
Investors want more disclosure of nonprofit hospitals’ increasing reliance on loans from private banks, the terms of which aren’t public but could trigger defaults on municipal bonds. San Francisco's Dignity Health was an early adopter of investor calls.
The Wall Street Journal:
Nonprofit Hospitals Adjust To Attract Investors
Late last year, a hospital operator with $14 billion in annual revenue sent a team of executives to Boston to schmooze with investors during lunch. For most of corporate America, such events aren’t unusual. But this large hospital is a nonprofit. As Trinity Health of Livonia, Mich., shows, more nonprofits are starting to resemble big business. In health care, where nearly 60% of hospital operators are private nonprofits, recent consolidation has created large organizations that span several states, with multibillion-dollar budgets and tens of thousands of employees. (Evans, 5/18)
In other hospital news —
The Ventura County Star:
County Hospital Announces VBAC Program For Expectant Moms
A long-demanded childbirth procedure not allowed at many hospitals will be revived at Ventura County Medical Center on June 1. Officials of the Ventura hospital announced Tuesday that doctors will begin performing vaginal birth for mothers who previously have given birth by cesarean section. (Kisken, 5/17)