UNC Health is leading a $2 billion to $3 billion initiative to create North Carolina's first freestanding children's hospital, addressing significant delays in specialist referrals for pediatric patients. The facility, which aims to include 500 to 600 beds and space for behavioral health, will enhance access to care for children facing long wait times for diagnoses and treatments. Currently in the planning stages, UNC Health is reviewing potential sites in the Greater Triangle area with plans to finalize a location by summer 2025. The establishment of this hospital is expected to improve local healthcare services, particularly for rare and complex medical conditions, while also contributing to economic growth in the region. North Carolina currently lacks a dedicated children's hospital, forcing families to seek care out of state.

UNC Health Launches $3 Billion Plan for North Carolina's First Children's Hospital Bizjournals

Sentara Health has allocated $11 million to equip its nurses with 4,900 customized iPhones, aimed at alleviating the nursing shortage and increasing job satisfaction. Operating across 12 hospitals in Virginia and North Carolina, the deployment focuses on enhancing communication among healthcare teams and reducing burnout by streamlining processes. The devices, which limit access to non-essential applications and secure patient data, allow nurses to receive direct notifications about patient needs and access medical records in real-time, ultimately improving care coordination and responsiveness.

Sentara Health Invests $11 Million in iPhones to Combat Nursing Shortage MedCity News

Providence, a 51-hospital system based in the Pacific Northwest, has unveiled a new executive leadership structure aimed at enhancing care delivery and aligning with its strategic goals. This reorganization, effective February 1, focuses on improving decision-making and local autonomy. Key appointments include Sara Vaezy as Chief Transformation Officer, Dr. Darryl Elmouchi as Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Susan Huang as Chief Physician Executive, and Greg Hoffman retaining his role as Chief Financial Officer. Additional leaders include Prub "PK" Khurana as Chief Strategy and Growth Officer and Ali Santore as Chief Communication and External Affairs Officer, all focused on supporting local ministries and advancing Providence's vision of "Health for a Better World."

Providence Restructures Leadership to Enhance Care and Local Autonomy Providence

CISA and the FBI have alerted organizations that hackers are actively exploiting security vulnerabilities in Ivanti Cloud Service Appliances, despite the release of patches in September and October 2024 for several critical issues, including an admin authentication bypass and remote code execution flaws. These vulnerabilities, now listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, have been used in zero-day attacks to gain access, execute remote code, and establish webshells in victim networks. Federal agencies are directed to secure their Ivanti appliances under Binding Operational Directive 22-01, and both agencies strongly advise network administrators to upgrade their systems to mitigate ongoing risks.

Hackers Target Ivanti Cloud Appliances Despite Recent Security Patches BleepingComputer