Becker's Spine Review

45 HEALTHCARE NEWS UHS buys 32 acres in Florida for medical campus By Alia Paavola K ing of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services has purchased 32 acres of land in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., for a medical campus, according to the South Florida Business Journal. The for-profit hospital operator paid $32.7 million for the property, according to the Feb. 2 report. UHS is seeking approval to build a 270-bed, 365,000-square-foot hospital, a four-story medi- cal office building and 1,019 parking spaces on the medical campus. The hospital would be the second acute care fa- cility in South Florida for UHS, which already owns Wellington (Fla.) Regional Medical Center. n Hospitals were underpaid $75.8B by Medicare, Medicaid in 2019, survey says By Alia Paavola M edicare and Medicaid underpaid hospitals by $75.8 bil- lion in 2019, according to the latest data from the Ameri- can Hospital Association's Annual Survey of Hospitals. The total comprises underpayments of $56.8 billion for Medicare and $19.0 billion for Medicaid, according to the data. The hospital association said that underpayments occur when the reimbursement hospitals receive is less than the amount paid for personnel, technology, and other goods and services required to provide care. In 2019, hospitals received payment of 87 cents for every dollar they spent caring for Medicare patients and 90 cents for every dol- lar spent caring for Medicaid patients, according to the survey. n 5 best-paying cities, states for physician assistants By Kelly Gooch P hysician assistant is the top healthcare job in the U.S., with the best-paid 25 percent making $130,530 in 2019, and the lowest-paid 25 percent making $92,800 that year, according to U.S. News & World Report data released in January. To determine the best-paying cities and states for physician assis- tants, the publication used median salary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read more about the methodology here. Here are the best-paying cities for physician assistants: 1. Salinas, Calif.: $161,370 2. Leominster, Mass.: $156,250 3. Waterbury, Conn.: $154,550 4. Danbury, Conn.: $147,500 5. New Bern, N.C.: $146,880 Here are the best-paying states for physician assistants: 1. Connecticut: $137,060 2. Washington: $129,520 3. New Jersey: $129,440 4. Alaska: $128,530 5. California: $127,520 n 5 best-paying cities, states for physicians By Gabrielle Masson B eing a physician is one of the top jobs in the U.S., with a median salary of $206,500 in 2019, according to a U.S. News & World report. The publication used median salary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Here are the best paying cities for physicians: Janesville, Wis.: $284,720 Laredo, Texas: $282,730 Salinas, Calif.: $282,640 Pittsfield, Mass.: $279,900 Ocean City, N.J.: $279,790 Here are the best paying states for physicians: Alaska: $258,550 New Hampshire: $257,220 Maine: $251,930 Montana: $247,720 Wisconsin: $246,060 n

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