hospitals

Florida health officials say the number of COVID cases is continuing to trend down, but the president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association tells legislators that staffing concerns remain.

Health care workers already bore the brunt of workplace violence in the U.S. Now, tensions from an exhausting pandemic are spilling over into hospitals.

Sarasota Memorial Hospital, which had not been allowing visitations, said it will now allow most patients to have two visitors. It also resumed nonemergency surgeries this week.

Steward Health Care, the nation's largest physician-owned hospital network, bought several facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward. The expansion is personal for CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre, who grew up in Florida after his parents fled Cuba in 1960.

At the forefront of the concerns is a shortage of nurses, which the executives told lawmakers has created an emergency for hospital administrators.

Prior to President Joe Biden's announcement that hospital workers must get a coronavirus vaccine, leaders of hospital systems in the region have been reluctant to make it a requirement.

Data show at least seven in 10 Americans trust doctors, nurses and pharmacists to do what’s right for them and their families either most or all of the time.

As some hospitals begin mandating staff members receive the COVID shot, Gov. Ron DeSantis made it clear he’s not a fan of the idea. He did not say he would ban the practice.

Florida has added about 17,000 cases a day for the last three days. Hospitalizations now greatly exceed last year's peak.

Providers ranging from Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville to small physicians’ offices are beginning to put requirements in place for staff members to get vaccinated.

As Community Health Systems has downsized, what remain are like zombie hospitals – little more than legal entities still taking patients to court even though the new owners don't sue.

While false alarms are to be expected, such frequent charges for little if any treatment suggest some hospitals see the alerts as much as a money spigot as a clinical emergency tool, claims consultants say.