Many U.S. businesses are bracing for the sharpest rise in health care costs in more than a decade, with employer coverage costs expected to jump nearly 10%, says Melissa Koontz, senior vice president, employee benefits at the Spokane office of Alliant Insurance Services Inc.

Glyciome LLC, a biotech startup developing microbiome-based genital health products, has moved a major portion of its federally funded clinical trials away from Harvard Medical School and into the Inland Northwest.

To meet increasing demand, Northern Idaho Advanced Care Hospital has converted and relicensed 17 beds from long-term acute care to inpatient medical rehabilitation as part of a joint venture between Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Ernest Health and Coeur d’Alene-based Kootenai Health.