Scott Becker - 5 Healthcare News Stories We Are Following Today 4-23-25

In this episode, Scott Becker shares five key healthcare stories, including a successful financial turnaround at St. Vincent's in Colorado, closures tied to private equity-backed health systems, major layoffs in Texas, and the upcoming departure of UNC Health CEO Dr. Wesley Burks.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is Scott Becker with the Beckers Health
Care Podcast.
We're gonna work through five stories that we're
following today.
One of them tells a very positive story
about an improvement in a health system where
they're able to turn it around.
That's based on a a Colorado
CEO CFO at Saint Vincent's in in Saint

(00:20):
Vincent's Leadville in Colorado,
where they were to turn it around from
an operating loss to a positive
margin over the last couple years.
Great kudos to the CEO and CFO there,
Andrew
Dreessen and Kelly Johnson. So that's good news.
Second and third stories are bad news.
Crozer Health is gonna shut down in in

(00:42):
Pennsylvania and Upland, Pennsylvania.
There, about 2,000 employees are gonna be laid
off. This is ultimately
came out of Prospect Medical Holdings,
a private equity funded company that had bought
Crozer Keys North Crozer Health a couple years
ago. That's been just a disaster, and that's
closing down. They tried all kinds of ways
to find financing, to find a way to

(01:03):
keep it open. That's not happening. Just bad
news.
Third, a similar story. Orlando Health, one of
the hospitals it bought out of Stewart Healthcare
is also going to close down. Again, an
another example of sort of the private equity
funded
health system business going badly,
and that's Crozer Health.

(01:24):
Fourth, another story of the sign of the
times brought to us by Madeline Ashley.
Texas ambulance service to lay off 590
people amid service transition.
That's MedStar Mobile Healthcare filed a warm notice
that they're gonna be laying off a lot
of people in Texas there.
Finally, fifth,
doctor Wesley Burks has been the CEO of

(01:46):
UNC Health. Just a terrific leader. He's gonna
step down from that role this year. Doctor
Burks is as good a person as they
come and and just really enjoy
getting a chance to visit with him.
A couple quick PSs. I had a chance
to record podcasts the last couple days. The
companies were Becker's Healthcare and some others.
Jacob Emerson on the payer side, side, Ellen

(02:08):
Condon
on the finance side, and Laura Dirda as
well. All just fantastic.
And I'm thrilled on Monday nights to be
able to provide some comments
at the National Association of Health Services Executives,
a great, great organization
aimed at helping to promote
people of color and health care, and I'm
so thrilled to get a chance to speak

(02:29):
at their spring meeting in Chicago on Monday.
Thank you for listening to the Becker's Healthcare
podcast. We hope you find something here interesting.
Again, some hospital closures, never a
good news,
and then at least one good sign of
one hospital being able to turn itself around
this last year. Thank you for listening to
the Becker's Healthcare Podcast.