More and more hospitals are contracting with private companies to run their emergency departments. To save money, many are increasingly relying on nurses and physician assistants instead of doctors, NPR reports.
The way emergency rooms work has quietly changed over the last decade. No matter the name on the outside of the building, hospitals often contract private companies to run the ER. Most of those companies are owned by private equity investors known for taking on massive debt, cutting expenses and trying to sell for big returns after a few years. And as member station WPLN reports, some of the biggest expenses in the ERs are the doctors themselves. Read more.
