The ratings agency dropped Akumin from "CCC" to "D," the lowest mark on S&P’s scale, typically used after a company files such a petition. 

The nearly half-billion-dollar loan balance will convert to shares of common stock, held by lender Stonepeak, with Akumin transitioning to a privately held company. 

Payers most frequently require PA for imaging (71%), followed by IV chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy, according to new survey data. 

The pause will last until Akumin can restore its systems in a “safe and secure manner,” leaving the company unable to see patients at its fixed-site locations. 

“It’s eye-opening, but not surprising,” one healthcare staffing expert said about the hospital system's unusual employment offer.

Chair Lina M. Khan spoke about the topic during the closing keynote at the American College of Emergency Physicians’ annual meeting in Philadelphia.

Few of those polled believe they are at risk of developing the disease, according to new research from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

Such delays can result in longer patient fasts, extended wait times, and poor synchronization of anesthesia induction, researchers detailed in JACR.