His wife, Sylvia Carroll, said he passed from lung cancer, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Arizona, California, and Pennsylvania.

• Arizona: Meat producer JBS Tolleson on Thursday voluntarily recalled over 6.5 million pounds of raw beef products that are believed to be contaminated with salmonella. At least 57 people in 16 states have reported getting sick from the products, which were packaged and distributed nationwide between July 26 and Sept. 7. The recall follows complaints from federal officials who said the plant keeps its livestock in "inhumane" conditions, Joshua Bowling and Russ Wiles report for USA Today (Bowling/Wiles, USA Today, 10/4).

• California: Biological psychiatrist Bernard J. Carroll died last month at age 77. By combining endocrinology and psychiatry, Carroll's research revealed that people with depression have difficulty suppressing cortisol, a stress hormone. Carroll was also known as a "relentless" critic of corruption in academic research. Carroll's wife said he passed at home, in Carmel, California, from lung cancer (Carey, New York Times, 10/4).

• Pennsylvania: Tower Health announced that it signed an asset purchase agreement to acquire 19 of Premier Urgent Care's urgent care centers. Under the deal, which is expected to close this year, the health system would acquire 18 urgent care centers in Pennsylvania and one in Delaware. Clint Matthews, president and CEO of Tower Health, said the acquisition is "a tremendous opportunity to quickly fill a need in our communities for access to walk-in care when a patient's doctor is not available or when a consumer does not have a doctor" (Ellison, Becker's Hospital Review, 10/4).

Next, get URMC's end-of-life conversation prompts

When it comes to end-of-life care, most organizations struggle to meet patients' needs. In a recent poll, 87% of Americans age 65 and older said that they believe their doctor should discuss end-of-life issues with their patients; however, only 27% of those polled had actually discussed these issues with their doctor.

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