Healthcare

Torrington – October 13, 2026 -- Therap Services has connected smart health monitors directly to electronic health records through its Therap Connect platform, removing manual entry of vital statistics for human services agencies.

Therap Connect captures vital signs, sleep and body composition data from smart scales, sleep mats and blood pressure monitors

The platform automatically records biometric readings from connected devices, including vital signs, body composition, sleep metrics and ambient environment conditions. Therap says manual logging creates administrative delays and raises the risk of entry errors. Data goes straight into the Therap system, giving care teams immediate visibility into health trends.

Brentwood – October 13, 2026 -- Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) agreed to buy the real estate of 30 communities it leases from Welltower for $290 million. The deal would cut 2027 annual cash rent by approximately $17.8 million and lift Brookdale's owned share of consolidated units to nearly 80%.

Brookdale closes $157M purchase of 17 formerly leased communities

Brookdale completed the previously announced acquisition on September 30 for approximately $157 million. The portfolio holds 735 assisted living and memory care units in Colorado, Kansas, Ohio and Texas.

The purchase eliminates approximately $11 million of annual cash rent in 2027 and raises Brookdale's owned share of consolidated units to approximately 77%.

CINCINNATI – October 13, 2026 -- Ten research areas, from gene editing to artificial intelligence, could drive the next generation of major advances in child health, according to a special article in Pediatric Research led by Tina Cheng, MD, MPH, who heads the Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation.

Four-physician team selects 10 research opportunities

Cheng worked with Stephen Daniels, MD, PhD, of Children's Hospital Colorado; Jessica Snowden, MD, MS, of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center; and Tracy Glauser, MD, associate director of the Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation. The article builds on a 2016 report on seven great achievements in child health research, which Cheng co-authored.

Priority list spans genetics, AI, vaccines and cancer

The 10 areas are:

Phoenix – October 13, 2026 -- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Health Choice (AZ Blue Health Choice) brought more than 200 tribal leaders, healthcare professionals, educators and partners to Flagstaff for the 13th Annual Tribal Summit, as the insurer serves members from 17 tribal nations.

Summit focuses on maternal, behavioral and workforce issues

The event, themed "Unity in Action: Bridging Systems, Strengthening Communities," centered on collaboration and shared learning to improve health outcomes across Arizona's tribal nations. Discussions covered maternal and child health, behavioral health, Indigenous health equity, workforce development and culturally responsive approaches to care.

Attendees shared best practices, explored emerging challenges and identified opportunities to strengthen support. The summit has served as a forum for tribal health leaders and organizations for more than a decade.

Plano, Texas – October 13, 2026 -- Seven Heart to Heart Hospice locations have won 2026 Hospice CAHPS Honors awards, and the Evansville, Indiana program earned the Elite designation, the program's highest tier.

Four Texas and three Indiana locations receive 2026 recognition

The Texas recipients are Beaumont, Longview, San Antonio and Tyler. The Indiana recipients are Elkhart, Marion and Evansville, with Evansville the only Elite honoree among the seven.

Awards rest on MatrixCare-administered survey scores

The Hospice CAHPS Honors program is based on satisfaction scores from the Hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey. It recognizes only hospice organizations that partner with MatrixCare to administer their surveys.

Evaluators used survey results collected between April and December 2025.

SAN FRANCISCO – October 13, 2026 -- Avive Solutions will deploy 30 Avive Connect AEDs as First Aid Sponsor of the 2026 Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR), supporting HOCR Emergency Services medical staff during the October 16-18 event in Boston and Cambridge.

Organizers expect about 325,000 unique spectators, 11,500 competitors and 2,400 volunteers at the world's largest three-day rowing competition.

AEDs will cover the full course on bikes, boats and at fixed stations

The devices will be split across three deployment points along the Charles River course, which runs about three miles from the Boston University Boathouse to Herter Park:

Los Angeles – October 13, 2026 -- Dr. Vivek Murthy, the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States, will headline the End Well 2026 Summit on November 12 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles and online, the nonprofit announced. Murthy, founder of The Together Project, will speak with CBS News National Correspondent Jamie Yuccas about loneliness and human connection during serious illness, caregiving, dying and grief.

CBO projects US deaths will exceed births from 2030

The announcement follows a Congressional Budget Office projection that annual deaths in the United States will exceed births beginning in 2030. The Summit's theme, "When Does Now Begin?", frames a day of talks and workshops on the choices people make, and the systems they encounter, before and during a crisis. End Well expects hundreds of attendees in person and thousands online.

Hallandale Beach – October 13, 2026 -- NextPlat Corp (NASDAQ: NXPL) has opened a new PharmcoRx community pharmacy in Jacksonville, extending its Florida pharmacy network, which currently stands at six retail locations, into the northern part of the state.

New pharmacy sits across from HCA Florida Memorial Hospital

The store is located at 3604 University Blvd South, Suite 102, directly opposite HCA Florida Memorial Hospital. Several specialty medical practices and healthcare providers operate nearby, and the site serves major southside Jacksonville business and residential areas.

New York – October 13, 2026 -- U.S. specialty practices in six fields have an estimated $108 billion in annual recoverable revenue, equal to about $125,000 per physician or 11% of annual revenue, according to new research from voice AI vendor Prosper AI. The analysis covers dermatology, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, OB-GYN, primary care and orthopedics.

Four revenue levers add up to $125,000 per physician

Prosper AI splits the gap into four sources:

• $44,800 from answering calls and filling schedules
• $37,400 from bringing patients back for follow-up care
• $28,500 from preventing avoidable denials
• $14,100 from recovering patient balances

One in six calls to specialty practices goes unanswered during office hours, and the share climbs to 81% after hours. Only 54% of patients due for a follow-up visit return on schedule. Another 40% come back late and 6% never return.

Houston – October 13, 2026 -- Healthcare professionals spend an average of 86 minutes a day on administrative tasks they believe AI could eliminate or significantly reduce, according to the fifth annual Compass Survey from healthcare operations software provider symplr. Directors and managers report 106 minutes a day, roughly a fifth of the workday.

Core hospital processes remain largely manual

Between 40% and 46% of clinicians, operations and IT respondents describe credentialing, contract management, workforce scheduling and supply chain management as fully manual. Only 2% to 6% call these processes fully automated.