Ballad Health Board, physicians applaud selection of CEO Alan Levine as one of Becker’s Hospital Review’s ‘2026 Great Leaders in Healthcare’
(Ballad Health – June 11, 2026)

Becker’s Hospital Review, a national news publication for the healthcare industry, has named Ballad Health Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Alan Levine as one of its “2026 Great Leaders in Healthcare.” The national recognition highlights executives who are driving meaningful change, advancing care delivery and shaping the future of healthcare. Levine was selected alongside leaders from some of the country’s most prominent health systems – including Kaiser Permanente, Mount Sinai Health System and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – reflecting a distinguished group of executives leading innovation, improving access and strengthening care across communities nationwide.

Carilion behavioral health role cuts staff injuries 70%-90%
(Becker’s Behavioral Health – June 3, 2026)

Health systems are grappling with a troubling reality: In 2023, the total cost of violence to hospitals was estimated at $18.27 billion, including the cost of treatment for victims, security staffing and violence prevention training — and not accounting for the long-term effects violence can have on an already strained workforce. To combat this challenge, particularly in emergency departments and inpatient psychiatric units, Roanoke, Va.-based Carilion Clinic launched a behavioral health security specialist pilot in January 2025 with six specialists at its Roanoke facility. The system expanded the program to its New River Valley facility in April 2025, placing five specialists at the hospital, Lisa Dishner, DNP, RN, senior director of nursing for the department of psychiatric and behavioral health medicine, told Becker’s.

Finding nighttime comfort: A patient’s guide to sleeping with spinal stenosis
(VCU Health – June 11, 2026)

Living with spinal stenosis can make finding a comfortable sleeping position a nightly challenge. As the spaces between the vertebra narrow within your spine, spinal stenosis causes pressure on the nerves that travel through the spine. This structural change can lead to discomfort, numbness or aching that disturbs your sleep. If you’re struggling to get a good night’s sleep, understanding how your mattress selection and sleeping position affect your condition is the first step toward relief. James H. Mooney, M.D., VCU Health neurosurgeon specializing in complex and minimally invasive spine surgery, breaks down the mechanics of nighttime spinal alignment, mattress options for different body types and practical adjustments you can make as soon as tonight.

Food for Thought Event a Resounding Success and Set to Become an Annual Tradition!
(Bath Community Hospital – June 11, 2026)

We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our participants, BCH staff and Board of Directors, as well as the Virginia State Office of Rural Health and the Virginia Cooperative Extension for making our Food for Thought event a resounding success last Friday! This event was designed to provide valuable resources and education focused on the overall wellness of mind and body. We believe that Food is Medicine, and we encourage everyone to take responsibility for their own health and thrive in their daily lives. Medical care and physician interventions account for roughly 10 – 20% of overall health outcomes, while the remaining 80 – 90% are driven by non-medical factors such as diet, physical activity, and other social determinants of health. This emphasizes the importance of community events like ours that promote healthier lifestyles.

Gov. Spanberger signs first-in-nation sickle cell legislation in Newport News
(13 News Now – June 11, 2026)

Governor Abigail Spanberger on Thursday signed a first-in-the-nation legislative package aimed at transforming sickle cell care in Virginia during a ceremonial event in Newport News. The signing took place at Sentara Community Care Center and brought together state leaders, lawmakers, health officials, advocates, and members of the family of Candace Gabriella King, for whom the legislation is named. The “Queen Candace Act” was created in memory of Candace Gabriella King, described by speakers as a 15-year-old whose life and legacy helped spark a statewide effort to improve education, training, access, and coordinated care for Virginians living with sickle cell disease.

HCA Virginia awards $10,000 dollars to expand CPR education and AED access across Virginia
(HCA Virginia – June 10, 2026)

More Virginians will be equipped to respond to cardiac emergencies thanks to a $10,000 donation from HCA Virginia to the Compress and Shock Foundation, supporting expanded CPR education and the placement of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in communities across the Commonwealth. The award, announced during National CPR and AED Awareness Week, was presented to the Compress and Shock Foundation by LewisGale Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Collin McLaughlin during an AED and CPR training event at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Roanoke. The funding brings HCA Virginia’s total investment in the foundation to $60,000 and will support the placement of 10 AEDs throughout Virginia while expanding access to free CPR education programs statewide.

Keeping young athletes healthy and in the game long-term without injuries
(WDBJ7 – June 10, 2026)

Baseball season is in full swing and watching your kid (or player) take the mound is exciting. But pitching puts a lot of stress on a growing arm—and when pitch counts get ignored or warm-ups are rushed, it’s a recipe for injuries. Dr. John, with Carilion Clinic Sports Medicine, joins us on Here @ Home to shares tips to keep kids healthy, confident, and in the game long-term.

Rural hospitals stay open by offering fewer services
(Virginia Scope – June 11, 2026)

Virginia’s rural hospitals are increasingly remaining open by offering fewer services, a trend that lawmakers warned could leave residents with diminished access to health care even if their local hospital never closes. A report recently presented to the General Assembly’s Joint Commission on Health Care found that while rural hospital closures have remained relatively rare in Virginia, many hospitals have steadily reduced inpatient care, eliminated labor and delivery services and become increasingly reliant on outpatient treatment as financial pressures mount.

Ten years later, trauma survivor’s gratitude reflects a decade of lifesaving care at Henrico Doctors’ Hospital
(HCA Virginia – June 11, 2026)

When Henrico Doctors’ Hospital became a state-designated Level II Trauma Center in 2016, its mission was clear: provide advanced, lifesaving trauma care close to home for patients across Henrico County, Richmond and the surrounding region. Ten years later, Stacy Burgdrof is one of the many patients whose life was changed by that mission. Burgdrof has no memory of the accident that nearly took her life. The last thing she remembers is the sound of a tree limb cracking. She had been doing landscaping work when a falling limb struck her on the head. She was standing near the base of the tree when it came down.

UVA Health University Medical Center Earns Two National Environmental Excellence Awards
(UVA Health – June 11, 2026)

In recognition of leadership and innovation in sustainable healthcare, UVA Health University Medical Centerreceived a 2026 Greenhealth Champion Award and a Circle of Excellence Award in Green Building from Practice Greenhealth, the leading membership and networking organization for sustainable healthcare. The Greenhealth Champion Award recognizes University Medical Center’s ongoing commitment to strengthening its environmental performance and celebrates the growth and development of the Medical Center’s sustainability programs. In alignment with its Sustainable Healthcare Certification focus areas, the Medical Center highlighted the following impact areas for the Environmental Excellence Awards: Governance & Leadership; Waste; Energy; Transportation; and Green Building.

Federal curveball upends NC’s plans for Medicaid work rule
(North Carolina Health News – June 11, 2026)

North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services waited nearly a year for federal guidance on implementing the Medicaid work requirement approved by congressional Republicans last summer. The mandate, passed in the summer of 2025 as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, takes effect on Jan. 1. It will force many of the more than 750,000 adults who became eligible through the state’s expansion of the government-funded health insurance program to prove they are working, volunteering or attending school for at least 80 hours a month to retain their coverage.

Kansas has more rural hospitals at immediate risk of closing than any other state
(KCUR – June 11, 2026)

More rural Kansas hospitals are at risk of immediate closure than in any other state. That’s according to a recent report by the non-profit policy organization Centers for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. It found that out of the about 100 rural Kansas hospitals analyzed, 69 are at risk of closure and 28 are at immediate risk. Kansas comes second to Texas, which has 26 rural hospitals at risk of immediate closure. In Missouri, 28 hospitals are at risk of closing and 11 are at immediate risk. Nationwide, the report found 294 rural hospitals are immediately at risk of closing.

Minnesota Lifts Payment Suspensions For Appealed Medicaid Providers
(MPR News – June 11, 2026)

Following widespread outcry from providers and state lawmakers, the Minnesota Department of Human Services said it will lift payment suspensions for providers who filed an appeal, according to a memo sent to providers and obtained by MPR News on Wednesday. Any providers who submitted an appeal by June 9 will have their payment suspension lifted by the end of the day on June 11, the agency said in the memo.

New Hampshire: CMS approves budget for GO-NORTH, the state’s federally funded rural health program
(News from the States – June 11, 2026)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved New Hampshire’s spending plan for a large tranche of federal money that will go toward rural health initiatives, state officials announced Thursday. New Hampshire received roughly $205 million from the federal government late last year through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program and expects to receive similar sums each year until the program concludes in 2030. The program was created by Congress in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in an effort to counteract other provisions of the massive new law that critics argued would compromise healthcare in rural areas. It distributed money to all 50 states and instructed states to spend the money on long-term transformative solutions to rural health challenges.

ACA marketplace enrollment losses deepen
(Healthcare Finance News – June 10, 2026)

ACA marketplace enrollment losses may be steeper than federal open-enrollment data initially showed, as emerging state data point to a larger drop-off after consumers received premium bills, according to a new Commonwealth Fund analysis. The analysis, authored by Stacey Pogue and Sabrina Corlette of Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms, found that several state-based marketplaces have reported significant declines between initial sign-ups and April enrollment. Those figures suggest that some people who selected plans during open enrollment later canceled coverage or lost it after failing to pay premiums.

Big Medicare Insurers Often Deny Requests for Nursing-Home Stays
(The Wall Street Journal – June 11, 2026)

If you’re a senior, the Medicare plan you choose may have a major impact on whether you can get nursing-home care when you need it—and a new federal investigation shows the largest insurers had some of the highest denial rates. Medicare insurers had widely varying rejection rates for patients seeking nursing-home stays, as well as for long-term care hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities, according to two new reports from the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Medicare Advantage plans denied prior authorization requests at unusually high rates, HHS report finds
(NBC News – June 11, 2026)

Patients enrolled in some of the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage plans were denied requests for rehabilitation and other critical services at unusually high rates, according to a report released Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services’ inspector general. It comes amid increased scrutiny of how insurers use prior authorization, a cost-cutting tool that experts say often leads to the delay or denial of necessary care. “These denial rates are quite staggering,” said Miranda Yaver, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh. “It’s another data point that reinforces what a lot of Americans have already been articulating a lot of frustration about — which is that healthcare decisions are being made with profit rather than medical necessity in mind.”

Seniors needed long-term care and rehab. Their private Medicare plans said no.
(The Washington Post – June 11, 2026)

Elderly people on privatized Medicare plans were routinely denied coverage for long-term hospital care and inpatient rehab by a trio of for-profit insurers that dominate the program, according to a government watchdog report released Thursday, raising concerns that some patients may have been refused medically necessary care. Aetna, which is part of CVS Health, denied 80 percent of requests for long-term hospital care, while UnitedHealthcare and Humana rejected 70 percent of requests, according to the report by the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, which examined more than 2,000 cases in the sample month of June 2024.

States starting to see major ObamaCare coverage losses
(The Hill – June 10, 2026)

Newly released state enrollment data show ObamaCare coverage losses could be even more severe than initially anticipated, due to Congress’s unwillingness to renew enhanced subsidies. Monthly enrollment data through April from Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico and New York showed a significant number of people canceled their coverage or did not pay their premium bills after signing up for coverage in 2026, according to an analysis from Georgetown University. Federal officials have so far only released data on initial sign-ups during open enrollment, which include people whose coverage was automatically renewed at the end of 2025.

AI should assist, not replace, clinical judgment
(Healthcare Finance News – June 11, 2026)

AI tools can support clinical workflows, but clinicians must make the final care decisions, given that providers bear legal accountability, says Ben Scharfe, Altera Digital Health EVP of artificial intelligence.

How a hospital is helping solve a hometown housing shortage
(Associated Press – June 11, 2026)

In a first-of-its-kind project in South Dakota, the small hospital in this southern Black Hills town is investing in a subdivision project to provide housing for its employees. Fall River Health Services, an independent nonprofit medical center in Hot Springs, is paying $2.3 million of the overall $3.4 million cost of infrastructure for a subdivision that could create 48 new affordable housing units a few hundred yards from the hospital campus. Like many South Dakota employers, Fall River Health is enduring a long-range worker shortage that has put pressure on its existing staff and driven up costs due to hiring of expensive traveling, short-term medical employees. As of May 29, the hospital had 19 job openings, most of them in direct patient care, a shortage of 10% of its needed workforce of 190. In the past couple years, the hospital has lost dozens of prospective health care workers because they couldn’t find affordable or suitable local housing, said Jesse Naze, chief financial officer at Fall River Health.

How the hospital EHR market has shifted
(Becker’s Hospital Review – June 11, 2026)

The U.S. acute care EHR market has shifted considerably over the past five years. Per Becker’s reporting of KLAS data, Epic has grown its share of acute care hospitals from 31% in 2021 to 43.7% in 2025. Oracle Health, which acquired Cerner in 2022, has posted net hospital losses each year since. Here is how the market has moved, year by year: 2021: Epic alone in positive territory. In 2021, Epic commanded 31% of the hospital EHR market and was the only EHR vendor to report a net increase in acute care market share.

Infographic: The reality of nursing turnover in 2026
(HealthLeaders Media – June 11, 2026)

Nursing turnover is always a point of contention for CNOs as they try to build a sustainable workforce. In 2026, RN turnover remains sitting at about 17%, which is the same as last year, according to Press Ganey’s State of Nursing 2026 report. Gen Z and Millennials have the highest turnover rates, with Gen Z sitting at 22% and Millennials at 21%.Jeff Doucette, CNO at Press Ganey, previously told HealthLeaders the reason Gen Z nurses are leaving the workforce has to do with unmet needs, centering around purpose, support, and alignment with their organizations.

Nearly half of adults struggled to afford healthcare last year, survey finds
(News from the States – June 11, 2026)

Forty-six percent of U.S. adults — regardless of insurance type — reported struggling to afford healthcare last year, according to a report released Wednesday by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research think tank. The report analyzed findings from a December 2025 survey of 10,000 working-age adults across the nation. Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the research comes at a time of U.S. cost-of-living concerns and economic woes. Uninsured adults were most likely — 60% — to report at least one affordability problem.

The infectious diseases that experts worry could spread during the World Cup
(The Washington Post – June 10, 2026)

When millions of soccer fans descend on North America this month for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, they will bring more than team jerseys and national pride. They will also bring the microbes that travel with people. Public health officials have spent years preparing for the tournament, which is expected to draw visitors from more than 100 countries to the United States, Canada and Mexico. Although diseases such as Ebola and hantavirus have been in the headlines, public health experts say the diseases most likely to show up in clinics, emergency departments or urgent care centers are likely to be less exotic.

The model rebuilding healthcare’s ‘front door’
(Becker’s Hospital Review – June 10, 2026)

As the link between oral health and overall wellness becomes more widely recognized among patients, healthcare leaders are looking for more ways to integrate care to enhance patient outcomes. More than 90% of adults in the U.S. agree that oral health is an important aspect of overall health, according to a new report from the Delta Dental Plans Association. Adults part of Gen Z are driving the increase, with 94% of Gen Z respondents believing that oral health is very or extremely important to their overall health, up from 89% in 2025. Henderson, Nev.-based PDS Health, an integrated healthcare organization with more than 1,200 locations in 24 states, has been spearheading efforts to bring medical and dental care closer together, including partnering with hospitals and health systems to expand its primary care model.

The power of reinvention: why lifelong learning and bold thinking will define the future of pediatric care
(Becker’s Hospital Review – June 11, 2026)

The landscape of pediatric healthcare is undeniably dynamic and ever-evolving. We recognize that delivering the best care for children requires more than just clinical excellence — it demands a commitment to pushing boundaries, embracing lifelong learning and challenging the status quo. Having built my career across some of the nation’s most prestigious pediatric institutions, a consistent truth emerged: while dedication to exceptional care was a common thread, what truly distinguished leading institutions was their ability to leverage science, innovation and research. Clinical care is not static; knowledge is continuously expanding. The moment we become complacent with past successes, we risk stagnation. This realization ignited a personal commitment to continuous reinvention.

AI use is surging across HHS, jumping 148% at the FDA in 2025, Bipartisan Policy Center data finds
(Fierce Healthcare – June 11, 2026)

Artificial intelligence use cases across the federal health department spiked between fiscal years 2024 and 2025— led by a 148% year-over-year increase at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) found. Within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), there was an 87% increase in AI use cases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a 78% jump at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS); and a 51% increase at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). BPC researchers analyzed the “HHS Artificial Intelligence Use Cases Inventory” to compile the report.

Medicare insolvency date creeps forward thanks to ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ trustees find
(Healthcare Dive – June 11, 2026)

The date at which a key trust fund underpinning Medicare’s hospital benefit is expected to go broke is inching up, largely due to the GOP’s “Big Beautiful Bill” passed last summer, according to new government projections. The Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund is set to run dry in the second quarter of 2033, one quarter earlier than previously expected, after the sweeping reconciliation legislation permanently cut taxes that had flowed into Medicare’s coffers, according a report released Tuesday by the Medicare trustees.

Trump’s health tech agenda: 8 recent moves
(Becker’s Hospital Review – June 11, 2026)

The Trump administration has made a series of high-profile moves on health technology in the months since President Donald Trump’s second term took full shape. Here is a look at those moves: Trump administration pushes for AI physicians. The Trump administration is pushing to expand AI’s role in healthcare, supporting a Utah pilot where AI writes prescriptions, investing more than $50 million in conversational AI tools for cardiovascular care, and fast-tracking approvals for AI-powered health products. Federal officials are also developing a regulatory pathway for independent AI physicians. While supporters say AI is already improving care, critics and regulators warn that overreliance on the technology could pose patient safety risks.

White House response to hantavirus and Ebola contrasts with COVID criticisms
(NPR – June 11, 2026)

The Trump administration has imposed some very tough measures in response to the hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks, despite the president’s past history of criticizing COVID-19 restrictions during the pandemic. The administration imposed mandatory federal quarantine orders on two American passengers from the cruise ship hit by the hantavirus, wants round-the-clock guards for some U.S. passengers quarantining at home, banned people from countries where Ebola is spreading from entering the U.S, and blocked Americans who catch Ebola from returning to the country for treatment.