Thread by @sarahkliff

I've covered hospitals for a decade.

I've never seen hospitals managed like the ones I wrote about in my new story.

A thread: (1/9)

nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/…

Between 2014 and 2017, a for-profit hospital chain called Alecto purchased three hospitals in Ohio and West Virginia.

They served rural populations. They were struggling financially. Employees expected Alecto would turn them around.

The opposite happened. (2/9)

First, Alecto cancelled contracts with doctors — a move that seemed meant to save money on salaries. But when the doctors left, their patients went with them. Some days, the board meant to show scheduled surgeries was empty.

That created a revenue problem (3/9)

Supplies started running short. Reporting this story, we talked to workers who had to buy the following supplies for patients, using their own money:
—Food
—Toilet paper
—Feminine hygiene products
—Toothpaste
—Film to print ultrasounds for pregnant patients
(4/9)

But there are some supplies workers can't buy — like the drugs needed to sedate ventilated patients. This anecdote, shared by an ICU nurse, was especially harrowing. (5/9)

The hospitals, under Alecto's management for less than 5 years, closed. Two closed in September 2019.

The third closed in March 2020, just as coronavirus spread to the area. (6/9)

There are already concerns that the longer distances needed to get to a hospital are making coronavirus worse.

That came up in the case of Michael Nuzum, a 54-year-old man who died after weeks of coronavirus symptoms. (7/9)

You can read more about what is happening in this corner of West Virginia – and how the area is fighting cornonavirus with 530 fewer hospital beds — in my new story, reported with @jbsgreenberg and @nkulish. (8/9)

nytimes.com/2020/04/26/us/…

Are there other stories I should be telling about hospitals in the age of coronavirus? I'd love to hear your tips and ideas.

Email me at [e-mail] or send me a direct message here. (9/9)