A nephrologist in Lexington, Ky., was sentenced to two years in prison for a $14 million kickback and fraud scheme. 

Cape Girardeau, Mo.-based Saint Francis Healthcare System is closing a Missouri surgery center.

Here are five controversies involving ASC closures, lawsuits or opposition that Becker's has reported on since April 10:

A Cedar Grove, N.J.-based physician was sentenced to 26 months in prison for a $1.3 million healthcare fraud scheme targeting Amtrak. 

U.S. News & World Report has rated ambulatory surgery centers for the first time this year after decades of rating acute care hospitals across the nation, and surgery center leaders can now preview their results.

There are 34 billionaires in the U.S. who made their wealth in healthcare ventures, according to Forbes' annual list of the richest people in the world. 

ASCs and other small businesses have struggled to stay afloat amid rising practice costs, staffing shortages and reimbursement declines. 

A man in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was sentenced to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release and must pay $97 million for his role in a healthcare fraud and kickback scheme. 

Nashville-based Surgery Partners has 192 affiliated practices nationwide, and continues to be a major player in the ASC industry.

Robert Eyzaguirre, MD, the owner and sole physician of a medical clinic in Bellflower, Calif., pleaded guilty to submitting false claims to a Medi-Cal program.

Thirty-seven percent of physicians and advanced practice providers that work on a locum tenens basis do it as a side job on top of an additional permanant role as a clinician, according to an April report from AMN Healthcare.

New York City has been named the richest city in the world, with 349,500 millionaires and 60 billionaires, according to a report from consulting firm Henley & Partners in collaboration with analytics firm New World Wealth. 

From lawsuits to an ongoing push for title changes, here are five major updates on the role of physician assistants from the last two years: 

Investing in ASCs presents healthcare professionals with opportunities that may not be available to players in other markets.

Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania has been named the best nursing school in the U.S., according to the U.S. Career Institute, an online career training platform. 

Consolidation has changed the healthcare landscape. 

Employers in the U.S. added 175,000 jobs in April, lower than what was expected by economists.

Parkview Health in Fort Wayne, Ind., has expanded its reach in the ASC market, partnering with one of the industry's largest players early this year. 

Nurse practitioners make an average of $161,540 in California, the highest-earning state, compared to the state's average household income of $131,504.

There are 20 ASCs in Montana, which was found to be the best state for physicians to practice by personal finance website WalletHub.