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CVS Health is planning to open around 60 stores this year, making it the first time the company will open more stores than it closes in years, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Illinois, Maryland, and Rhode Island.
- Illinois: According to a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics, the number of eating disorder-related hospital discharges among individuals ages eight to 25 has returned to pre-pandemic levels. For the study, researchers compared aggregated monthly volumes of eating disorder-related discharges among individuals ages eight to 25 before the onset of the pandemic (January 2018 to March 2020) and five years afterward (through June 2025). Overall, there were 43,101 eating disorder-related hospitalizations during the study period. Around 85% of the individuals in the study were female, and the average age was 15.4 years. During the first year of the pandemic, eating disorder-related hospitalizations among eight- to 25-year-olds increased by 30.9% per month, leading to a peak of roughly 600 per month across 41 hospitals. After April 2021, these hospitalizations were largely stable or saw modest declines before dropping significantly in October 2024. Between then and June 2025, there were roughly 350 eating disorder-related hospitalizations for individuals ages eight to 25 per month. "Five years after pandemic onset, the volume of patients with eating disorders admitted to our geographically diverse group of hospitals appeared to have returned to prepandemic levels," the researchers wrote. "This volume was even below that estimated by the prepandemic pattern, although this difference was not statistically significant." (Henderson, MedPage Today, 3/23)
- Maryland: FDA has granted accelerated approval to Denali Therapeutics' Avlayah to treat neurological manifestations of Hunter syndrome in pediatric patients. Hunter syndrome is a rare genetic disorder, and Avlayah is the first new treatment for the disease in almost 20 years. The drug is indicated for children who weigh at least five kilograms and have either presymptomatic or symptomatic Hunter syndrome prior to advanced neurologic impairment. In a clinical trial of 47 pediatric patients, Avlayah reduced a key disease marker in spinal fluid by 91% after 24 weeks. By this point in the trial, most patients had levels like those seen in children without the disease. The treatment is administered once weekly, and the most common side effects are infusion-related reactions, infections, fever, anemia, and rash. Currently, Denali is conducting a confirmatory phase 2/3 trial of the treatment, which will include young adult participants. (Jeffries, Becker's Hospital Review, 3/26)
- Rhode Island: CVS Health is planning to open around 60 stores in 2026. Among the new stores opening are pharmacy-only locations, a new format for the company. The pharmacy-only stores are less than half the size of a typical CVS store and only carry health-related products, like over-the-counter medications. Last year, CVS opened around a dozen pharmacy-only locations. The first of its pharmacy-only stores opened March 30 in Chicago. According to the Wall Street Journal, CVS has significantly reduced its number of physical stores over the last few years. From 2022 through 2024, CVS had around 800 net store closures and closed roughly 270 locations in 2025. CVS is also planning a small number of closures this year, but it will open more stores than it closes for the first time in years. "While we regularly review our footprint, we've completed work to optimize our retail footprint to best serve the needs of our patients and customers," CVS said. (Hart, Wall Street Journal, 3/30; Jeffries, Becker's Hospital Review, 3/30)
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