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September 25, 2026

Takeaways from the most recent news in the technology and policies shaping healthcare.

Hospitals

UC Irvine Names Michael Stamos Interim Health Affairs Chief

By Healthcare Technology News ·

UC Irvine has tapped Michael Stamos, MD, to serve as interim vice chancellor of health affairs, effective July 15, according to a June 23 letter from Chancellor Howard Gillman, PhD, reported by Becker's Hospital Review.

Stamos steps in for Steve Goldstein, MD, PhD, who is leaving UC Irvine to become president of the University of New Mexico. The vice chancellor of health affairs role oversees the academic medical enterprise, spanning the health system, medical school, and clinical operations, making it one of the most consequential leadership posts at the university.

Interim appointments like this one buy time for a national search while keeping strategy and operations steady. For academic medical centers, leadership continuity matters because these executives steer multibillion-dollar clinical and research budgets, faculty recruitment, and partnerships. Readers should expect UC Irvine to launch a formal search for a permanent successor in the coming months, with Stamos providing stability during the transition.

Sources

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Hospitals

UPMC Children's Critical Care Physician Killed in Stabbing

Details on the case remain limited as the investigation continues.

Why it matters: The loss of a senior pediatric critical care physician and educator affects patient care teams, trainees, and families tied to one of the nation's largest health systems.

Hospitals

Penn Medicine and IBX Team Up to Build 18+ Surgery Centers

Penn Medicine, Independence Blue Cross and Regent Surgical Solutions are forming a new company to build at least 18 ambulatory surgery centers across three states.

Why it matters: A health system and its insurer jointly building surgery centers signals how aligned incentives are accelerating the shift of procedures to lower-cost outpatient sites.

Hospitals

Surgical Safety Is a Leadership Problem, Not a Nursing Metric

At Becker's Perioperative Summit, a Stryker-sponsored session argued surgical safety failures reflect broken systems and leadership gaps, not individual nursing error.

Why it matters: Framing surgical safety as a leadership and systems issue redirects accountability toward fixes that actually reduce preventable OR errors.