Liberal, Kan.-based Southwest Medical Center has partnered with multi-specialty medical group Sound Physicians to provide comprehensive anesthesia coverage, according to a Jan. 7 report from KSCB News.

Here are five GI devices to keep an eye on that Becker's reported on in 2024:

President Joe Biden has signed into law a bill adding optometry to the physician pay scale as part of the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act.

Here are five issues anesthesia providers are watching as we begin 2025:

Caitlin Zulla, who previously led Optum Health East and SCA Health, was named CEO of US Radiology Specialists, according to a Jan. 7 news release. 

Cory Smith, MD, formerly employed by Pueblo, Colo.-based Rocky Mountain Eye Center, has opened his own clinic, also in Pueblo, KOAA News 5 reported Jan. 6. 

Garden City, N.Y.-based OCLI VIsion has added Shaina Kumar, MD, to its ophthalmology staff.

Louis Schittly, MD, a French physician who helped found Doctors Without Borders, has died at age 86, according to a Jan. 7 obituary published by The Washington Post. He died in Mullhouse, France on Jan. 1. 

Downers Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Health Care opened a new outpatient center in Hoffman Estates, Ill., the Daily Herald reported Jan. 6. 

The New Orleans Fire Department responded to a fire at a Touro Hospital medical office building Jan. 6, according to a report from NBC affiliate WDSU.

Surgeries at an ASC in Waterbury, Conn., have been postponed following a car crashed into the building Jan. 5, according to a Jan. 6 report from the Republican American.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominated to lead HHS under President Donald Trump's second term, holds a range of positions on healthcare issues.

The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison has been awarded a $5.7 million grant by the National Institutes of Health to study the long-term effects of vaping on heart and lung health.

A group of physicians want to block Fresno, Calif.-based St. Agnes Medical Center from entering an exclusive contract with national staffing firm Vituity, The Fresno Bee reported Jan. 6.

While ophthalmologists are able to perform any surgeries within the scope of eye care, optometrists, who are not credentialed as MDs, have a more limited scope of practice. 

Orthopedic and spine surgeons who previously worked at Madison, Wis.-based SSM Health are now able to see former patients after a noncompete clause expired Jan. 1, the Wisconsin State Journal reported Jan. 6. 

Cardiology is the fastest-growing ASC specialty and, as such, has been drawing attention from private equity groups and other consolidators, as cardiovascular procedures continue to migrate to the ASC setting. 

Originally launched in 2019, Walmart Health, which at one point had a network of more than 50 clinics, officially closed in June 2024.

Shakeel Kahn, MD, a physician in Casper, Wyo., was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes involving drug distribution, firearms possession and money laundering.

From athletes to actors, several prominent figures suffer from irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease.