Latest news with #AscensionHealth
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Transforming the Landscape of Women's Heart Health "BIA (be-ya) yourself"
NASHVILLE, Tenn., July 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Heart disease is #1 killer of women in the US- causes 1 in 5 deaths- more than all cancers combined. More than 60 million US women are living with heart disease: majority without any warning signs. Nishtha Sareen MD MPH, Founder and Medical Director for Women Heart Health Program at Ascension Health System in MI and TN provides expert insight on the challenges and opportunities after pioneering 2 statewide programs and over 11 centers dedicated to this pressing issue. This is the first narrative of a series: my next write up will highlight focused patient journeys and conclusions. Whether scarcity of female representation in clinical trials or delayed presentation, each is driven by a single root cause - lack of advocacy for in-depth women's cardiovascular care at physician and population levels. Medical curriculum does not include dedicated training in female predominant (angina with open arteries, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) and female specific (obstetric, menopausal and gynecological) disorders. From a physician's perspective, after over 12 years of training and inevitably large loans to pay, patient care compensation becomes a critical determinant in practice of medicine. Current patient care compensation models and quality metrics do not support gender-specific parameters. Developing new programs and algorithms to diagnose and manage female specific ailments is adjudged a time-consuming task that takes away from productivity and accordingly compensation. Interventions to address this include training courses for physicians including symposia, books and webinars with CME credits. Credible, patient focused, free-of-charge physician podcasts called "BIA for you, for them" and book "BIA she is the force" under initiative are attempts in pursuit to weld those discrepancies. Focusing on interrelated disease management affecting our women is paramount. There is sprouting enthusiasm globally to assimilate viewpoints from those who have spent energy, time and resources dedicated to women's cardiovascular health. Another high-priority area that needs emergent scrutiny is effective community engagement tactics. Most women still believe that breast cancer is the colossal killer, even though heart disease kills 6 times more women- a heartbreaking statistic. Mobilizing, educating and sensitizing our community is vital - from routine screening, to recognizing symptoms and risk factors, to ensuring compliance with testing and medications: each step calls for deliberate collaboration. Every single one of us must prioritize women's heart health crisis with harmony, grit and advocacy: transformation will follow. "BIAyourself" Media Contact:biayourselfcontact@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE BIA for you, for them
Bloomberg
18-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Pimco and King Street's AmSurg Windfall Caps Ugly Distressed-Debt Saga
The sale of AmSurg, an ambulatory surgery company once part of KKR & Co.-backed Envision Healthcare Corp., caps an epic distressed-debt saga that will hand a windfall to investors that took ownership of the business after an ugly debt brawl. Pacific Investment Management Co., King Street Capital Management, and Partners Group are among the AmSurg owners netting nearly $4 billion from the deal to sell the company to Ascension Health, one of the biggest nonprofit health systems in the US.
Bloomberg
17-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Ascension Health Expands Reach With $3.9 Billion Amsurg Deal
Ascension Health has agreed to buy AmSurg, an ambulatory surgery company once part of Envision Healthcare Corp., for about $3.9 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The deal will add more than 250 outpatient surgery centers to Ascension's network in the US, where it is one of the biggest nonprofit health systems, as care moves toward lower-cost settings outside of traditional hospitals.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Grace Schera's family wants jury to decide hospital caused her death, not COVID-19. What to know about the case.
The circumstances of the death of a young Wisconsin woman, whose story has been visible on billboards in Outagamie County for years, went on trial June 2. Grace Schara died at age 19 in October 2021, after being admitted to Ascension NE Wisconsin-St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton for symptoms of COVID-19. Her father filed a wrongful death lawsuit a year and a half later. Here's what to know about the case and trial. More: COVID, conspiracy theories and a billboard campaign: Grace Schara's hospital death finally sees trial Grace Schara was the youngest of three children. She had Down syndrome, and loved drawing, singing, dancing and Elvis Presley. Grace was 19 when she died Oct. 13, 2021, seven days after being admitted to Ascension NE Wisconsin-St. Elizabeth Hospital in Appleton for symptoms of COVID-19. She died from COVID-19 complications, according to the hospital. Her parents believe she died as a result of actions taken by hospital staff, and have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in civil court. Grace's father, Scott Schara, leased multiple billboards along Interstate 41 and other highways in Outagamie and surrounding counties. The messages and photos change, but some include: 'Have innocent lives been stolen by medical malpractice or murder?' 'Was Grace given a lethal combination of meds at St. Elizabeth's hospital? Intentional? Who's next?' Now self-proclaimed 'medical murder' expert, Schara believes the government and medical community have worked together to hasten the deaths of thousands of people, particularly the disabled and elderly. He's spread these views on the billboards and a related website, Their lawsuit is a wrongful death claim. Their lawsuit includes claims of medical negligence, violation of informed consent and battery. In the family's lawsuit, they say Grace was given precedex, lorazepam and morphine without their knowledge or consent, and that it was this trio of drugs — not complications from COVID-19 — that caused Grace's body to go into respiratory distress. And, their lawsuit claims, it wasn't until Grace was in respiratory distress that the family learned a "do not resuscitate' order had been placed on her chart — which directs medical staff not to perform any life-saving measures if a patient experiences cardiac or respiratory arrest. Their lawsuit names defendants Ascension Health, doctor Gavin Shokar and nurse Hollee McInnis as defendants. Other doctors, nurses and medical professionals were dismissed from the lawsuit. The hospital argues that injuries or damages sustained by the Schara family may be the result of their own negligence or decision-making, and that Grace's condition may have been the result of a pre-existing condition or the result of a natural disease progression beyond the control of the hospital staff. The hospital also argues the federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act provided immunity from liability for certain individuals and entities during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to court documents. Ascension spokesperson Victoria Schmidt said in a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that while the hospital is unable to comment on ongoing legal matters, 'we have full confidence in the legal proceedings.' Jury selection began Monday, June 2. Opening arguments took place Tuesday, June 3. Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Mark McGinnis reserved four weeks for the trial. During the trial, up to 22 witnesses may testify. Eight of those people are experts on various topics, McGinnis said at jury selection Monday. Others testifying will include Grace's parents, Scott and Cindy Schara, and defendants Dr. Gavin Shokar, Grace's doctor, and Hollee McInnis, a nurse. The trial will be live-streamed by Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now the nation's health secretary. The public can attend in-person at Outagamie County Courthouse, but may have to sit in an overflow room because of limited capacity. The case is the first to challenge COVID-19 as the cause of death listed on a death certificate. Family and supporters view it as a chance to hold the medical profession responsible for hospital deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The case could also set a precedent that bypasses the state's medical-malpractice cap. A wrongful death case can apply to any cause of death, but if that death is due to medical care, there are limitations on who can file such a case and the amount of damages that can be paid out. Attaching the medical battery claim to the lawsuit is an attempt 'to kick the case outside the realm of medical malpractice limitations," said Jerome Hierseman, with Milwaukee-based End, Hierseman & Crain, a medical malpractice for the family believe it is also the first medical battery claim attached to a wrongful death lawsuit to be tried in Wisconsin in the past 50 years. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Grace Schara trial: What to know about disputed COVID-19 death
Bloomberg
30-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Japan's Hostile Takeover Boom Raises Risks for Megabanks
Hi, it's Taro Fuse in Tokyo, looking at how Japan's megabanks are responding to the rising level of hostile bids in the country. Also today, Ascension Health is nearing a $3.9 billion deal for surgery centers and the 49ers empire now includes Scotland. Today's top stories Japanese megabanks play a powerful role in the country's business landscape—forming deep roots with their corporate customers over the decades through lending relationships, advisory work and even owning stakes.
