Becker's Spine Review

43 HEALTHCARE NEWS Kansas hospital abruptly closes, blames physicians for financial troubles By Ayla Ellison S umner Community Hospital in Wel- lington, Kan., closed March 12 without providing notice to employees or the local community, according to the Wichita Business Journal. Most local residents found out the hospital closed by a sign on the main entrance to the fa- cility, which provided no explanation as to why the facility shut down. A statement from Kansas City Mo.-based Rural Hospital Group, which acquired the hospital in 2018, cited financial difficulties and lack of support from local phy- sicians as reasons for the closure. "… Lack of support from the local medical community was the primary reason we are hav- ing to the close the hospital," reads a statement from RHG, according to the Wichita Business Journal. "We regret having to make this deci- sion; however, despite operating the hospital in the most fiscally responsible manner possible, we simply could not overcome the divide that has existed from the time we purchased the hos- pital until today." Sumner Community Hospital is the first hospi- tal RHG has closed, the company's chief legal officer, Dennis Davis, told e Topeka Capi- tal-Journal. "e city of Wellington, authority board, peo- ple in Wellington supported us as much as they can," Mr. Davis told the Capital-Journal. "But the only people who admit patients to hospi- tals are doctors, and when you don't have the doctors' support, a small, rural hospital cannot make it." Sumner Community Hospital has about 75 em- ployees. ey were told at the end of the work- day March 12 that they no longer had jobs, ac- cording to the Wichita Business Journal. n A look back at swine flu: 8 facts about the world's last pandemic in 2009 By Mackenzie Bean The World Health Organization on March 11 declared the COVID-19 out- break a pandemic, the first such declaration in 11 years. Here's a look back on the 2009 swine flu pandemic with eight key facts from the CDC: 1. The flu strain responsible for the outbreak — influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 — was first detected in America in April 2009. 2. The strain represented a unique combination of influenza viruses never before seen in humans or animals. 3. The virus quickly spread globally, primarily affecting children and adults under 65 who lacked immunity to H1N1. 4. The WHO declared the swine flu outbreak a pandemic on June 11, 2009. 5. Between April 12, 2009, and April 10, 2010, the CDC estimates swine flu caused 60.8 million illnesses, 273,304 hospitalizations and 12,469 deaths in the U.S. 6. On Oct. 5, 2009, the U.S. began administering a newly approved H1N1 vaccine to select Americans, with vaccination coverage expanding nation- wide by that December. 7. WHO declared an end to the pandemic on Aug. 10, 2010. 8. Globally, an estimated 151,700 to 575,400 people died from swine flu in the first year of the pandemic. n Kaiser cancels $900M headquarters project By Ayla Ellison Kaiser Permanente has scrapped plans to build a new $900 million office tower in Oakland, Calif., according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The healthcare giant had planned to move more than 7,000 employees from seven offices into a new 1.6 million-square-foot, 29-story tower. Now that the plan for a new headquarters office in Oakland is no longer happen- ing, Kaiser will stay in its existing East Bay offices, according to the report. Kaiser reexamined the feasibility of the project due to delays and increasing costs of the new tower, the system told the San Francisco Chronicle. Kaiser said the decision to cancel the project was not related to the COVID-19 pandemic. n

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