North Texas physician Dr. Leovares A. Mendez has been convicted of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and unlawful distribution of a controlled substance for issuing prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose. He repeatedly issued prescriptions for hydrocodone, alprazolam, and tramadol to undercover agents pretending they were patients in exchange for $250 cash payments. His co-defendant, Dr. Cesar Pena-Rodriguez, pleaded guilty less than a week before the eight-day trial. During at least 24 visits by undercover agents, the physicians prescribed medications after brief and perfunctory examinations, some of which only lasted one minute. They will be sentenced at a later date.
Medical City Healthcare has completed the purchase of Trinity Regional Hospital Sachse, growing the local system to 20 hospitals. The 32-bed hospital opened in 2022 and filed for bankruptcy last year. It will be called Medical City Sachse, and the purchase will allow for uninterrupted care at the hospital. The acute care hospital has emergency and surgical services and will serve Sachse, Murphy, Wylie, Rowlett, Garland, and the surrounding areas.
As first reported in Becker’s Hospital Review, Dallas-based Steward Health Care System has secured a financial transaction to stabilize the company’s nine Massachusetts hospitals as reports emerge of the system looking to sell four of them to improve the company’s financial difficulties. Dr. Michael Callum, executive vice president of Steward, told Becker’s that there are no current plans to close any of the hospitals and that there is M&A partner being brought on board to provide the time for Steward to consider transferring one or more of the hospitals to other operators.
St. Vincent de Paul Pharmacy, which provides free prescriptions to economically disadvantaged residents throughout the state, filled 100,000 prescriptions in 2023 and aims to fill 125,000 this year. Since opening in 2018, it has filled 300,000 prescriptions at a value of $76.6 million. The pharmacy is collaborating with the American Heart Association in a joint study to provide free blood pressure monitors and medicine to 75 patients over the course of a year. The organization is also partnering with Cristo Rey Dallas and the UNT Health & Science Center, providing internship and rotation experience for the students at the pharmacy.
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