Becker's Spine Review

52 HEALTHCARE NEWS 11 hospitals return $192M in CARES Act payments By Ayla Ellison C ongress allocated $175 billion in re- lief aid to hospitals and other health- care providers to cover expenses and lost revenues tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, a portion of which was dedicated to hospitals hardest hit by the pandemic. HHS has distributed two rounds of high-im- pact payments to hospitals that treated large numbers of COVID-19 patients. In the first round, $12 billion was distributed to nearly 400 hospitals that provided inpatient care for 100 or more COVID-19 patients between Jan. 1 and April 10. e second round, which totaled $10 billion, was split among hospi- tals that had more than 161 COVID-19 ad- missions between Jan. 1 and June 10 or that experienced a disproportionate intensity of COVID-19 admissions. In May and June, 11 hospitals declined their high-impact payments and returned the funds, according to CDC data updated Aug. 3. e re- funded payments totaled $191.7 million. Below are the hospitals that returned their payments. Coosa Valley Medical Center (Sylacauga, Ala.) Grant amount: $8.7 million Funds returned May 21 Drew Memorial Health System (Monticello, Ark.) Grant amount: $8.9 million Funds returned May 15 HSHS St. John's Hospital (Springfield, Ill.) Grant amount: $27.9 million Funds returned June 3 Los Angeles Medical Center Grant amount: $8.6 million Funds returned May 28 M Health Fairview Southdale Hospital (Edina, Minn.) Grant amount: $8 million Funds returned May 26 M Health Fairview St. Joseph's Hospital (Saint Paul, Minn.) Grant amount: $24.3 million Funds returned May 26 M Health Fairview University of Minneso- ta Medical Center-West Bank (Minneapolis) Grant amount: $17.2 million Funds returned May 26 Memorial Hospital at Gulfport (Miss.) Grant amount: $15.4 million Funds returned May 11 Springhill Medical Center (Mobile, Ala.) Grant amount: $10.1 million Funds returned May 13 Tanner Medical Center - Carrollton (Ga.) Grant amount: $35.2 million Funds returned June 3 Tanner Medical Center - Villa Rica (Ga.) Grant amount: $27.4 million Funds returned June 3 n Feds sue to block Geisinger's partial acquisition of 132-bed hospital By Alia Paavola T he U.S. Justice Department sued to block Danville, Pa-based Geisinger's partial acquisition of a 132- bed hospital in Lewisburg, Pa. In the antitrust suit, filed Aug. 5, prosecutors said Geisinger and Evangelical are close competitors for inpatient acute care for patients in six counties in Pennsylvania. As a result, Geisinger's plan to acquire a 30 percent owner- ship stake in Evangelical Community Hospital would "fun- damentally" alter the relationship between the two orga- nizations and reduce incentives to "compete aggressively against each other," the complaint reads. The suit also claims the agreement between the two par- ties would result in higher prices, lower care quality and reduced access to inpatient hospital services. The Justice Department said Geisinger initially sought to acquire Evangelical Community Hospital in full. But, in- stead pursued a partial acquisition agreement "in part to avoid antitrust scrutiny," according to the suit. "Preserving competition in healthcare markets is a priori- ty for the Department of Justice because of its important impact on the health and well-being of Americans," said Makan Delrahim, an assistant attorney general of the Jus- tice Department's antitrust division. "This agreement be- tween Geisinger and Evangelical threatens to harm pa- tients in central Pennsylvania by reducing competition that has improved the price, quality, and availability of health- care in the region." "We are disappointed by the decision and continue to believe enhancing our relationship with Geisinger is in the best interest of the region and will provide efficient, cost-effective healthcare to the communities we serve," Kendra Aucker, president and CEO of Evangelical Com- munity Hospital, told PennLive. n

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