IBM announced the sale of Watson Health's data and analytics business to Francisco Partners, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Colorado and New York.

• Colorado: Children's Hospital Colorado (CHC) in Aurora appointed K. Ron-Li Liaw as its first mental health-in-chief. Liaw, who stepped into the role in September 2021, previously served as a clinical associate professor for the department of child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU Langone for 14 years. She currently serves as chair of the CHC's Pediatric Mental Health Institute. According to president and CEO Jena Hausmann, "Dr. Liaw's position as mental health-in-chief is on the same level as our pediatrician-in-chief or surgeon-in-chief, and this leadership role ensures that pediatric mental health is top of mind for every major decision we make as a children's hospital." (Jensik, Becker's Hospital Review, 1/21)

• Colorado: Team USA's lead doctor on Thursday announced that all 240 American athletes who will be going to the Beijing Winter Olympic Games next month have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. In September, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee updated its policy to require the Covid-19 vaccine for all employees, athletes, and contractors. According to Jonathan Finnoff, CMO of the committee, "Vaccination is sort of the foundation of our Covid mitigation protocol." (Axios, 1/21)

• New York: IBM on Friday announced plans to sell Watson Health's data and analytics business to Francisco Partners, a private investment firm. The deal—which also includes IBM's medical imaging and population health software, Merge Healthcare and Phytel—is expected to close during the second quarter of 2022. The sale represents the final step in IBMs departure from what it called a "moonshot" venture to improve health care, save lives, and trim medical costs, the New York Times reports. For over a year, IBM has been trying to find a buyer for Watson Health, seeking a sale price of around $1 billion. According to Tom Rosamilia, SVP of IBM's software business, "Today's agreement with Francisco Partners is a clear next step as IBM becomes even more focused on our platform-based hybrid cloud and AI strategy." He added, "IBM remains committed to Watson, our broader AI business, and to the clients and partners we support in healthcare IT." (Lohr, New York Times, 1/21; Bannow, Modern Healthcare, 1/21; Kacik, Modern Healthcare, 1/21)