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Women who had surgery performed by a male surgeon were more likely to have adverse outcomes than women operated on by female doctors, according to a study published Dec. 8 in peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Surgery. U.S. and Canadian researchers analyzed more than 1.3 million patients in Ontario, Canada, treated by 2,397 surgeons between 2007 and 2019. They found that female patients treated by male surgeons had 15% greater odds of worse outcomes than female patients treated by female surgeons. (Shen, 1/5)

Already crowded hospitals across Massachusetts are being forced to keep patients on their wards for weeks after they would otherwise be discharged for rehabilitation or long-term care because there are so few available spaces at nursing homes struggling to stay open amid the Omicron surge. At Brigham and Women’s Hospital, more than 200 patients sat in limbo Monday. The sickest had waited an average of about three weeks, because so many nursing homes have been forced to close their doors to new patients. (Lazar, 1/5)

After nearly two years on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers continue to demand extra protections and pay from employers. But healthcare companies say rising costs and lower revenue because patients are delaying care make it difficult to shoulder higher labor expenses. Experts say this will continue to put pressure on the relationship between providers and staff as workers battle burnout and employers try to balance budgets and find ways to serve patients. (Christ, 1/5)

Healthcare navigation company Castlight Health and primary care provider Vera Whole Health are merging with the aim of improving the ways care is accessed, delivered and purchased, the companies announced Wednesday. The combination and transaction—which has an equity value of around $370 million—are expected to be finalized early this year, according to a news release. "Integrating our navigation data and technology with Vera Whole Health's high-quality primary care offering addresses the fundamental need for a coordinated and personalized patient experience," Castlight Health CEO Maeve O'Meara said in a news release. (Devereaux, 1/5)

NorthShore University HealthSystem and Edward-Elmhurst Health have merged into a nine-hospital system that will have roughly $5 billion in annual revenue and a dominant presence in Chicago's affluent north and west suburbs. The pandemic has slowed down hospital merger activity, according to health care financial advisory firm Ponder & Co., but it didn't completely stop all deals — especially large mega-mergers like this NorthShore-Edward deal that pursue regional consolidation. (Herman, 1/6)

Not-for-profit JourneyCare, one of Illinois' largest hospice providers, announced Wednesday it's being purchased by publicly-traded Addus HomeCare for $85 million. JourneyCare, based in Glenview, Illinois, serves about 750 patients per day across a 13-county region in the Chicago metro. The proposed deal, expected to close February 1, is part of Addus' broader merger and acquisition strategy, which included last year's addition of Summit Home Health, also in the Chicago area. (1/5)

IBM has resurrected its sale process for IBM Watson Health, with hopes of fetching more than $1 billion, people familiar with the situation tell Axios. Big Blue wants out of health care, after spending billions to stake its claim, just as rival Oracle is moving big into the sector via its $28 billion bet for Cerner. IBM spent more than $4 billion to build Watson Health via a series of acquisitions. The business now includes health care data and analytics business Truven Health Analytics, population health company Phytel, and medical imaging business Merge Healthcare. (Pringle, 1/5)