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Ascension health care system retracts nationwidebut not in Indy Indianapolis Business Journal – Indianapolis Business Journal

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The six-story Women & Childrens Tower under construction on the hospitals West 86th Street campus will feature both private neonatal intensive care unit rooms and pediatric intensive care unit rooms. (IBJ photo/Eric Learned)

In the past five years, the nations largest Catholic health system, Ascension, has unloaded more than a dozen hospitals across the country, from New York to Alabama, as it restructures amid a growing tide of red ink.

In Indiana alone, it shut a critical-access hospital in Bedford, closed 11 immediate-care walk-in centers in central Indiana and shut down or repurposed five small neighborhood hospitals.

And theres no sign the sell-off is over.

Ascension continues selling spree, said a headline last month in Beckers Hospital Review, a trade news site, which added that the St. Louis-based system has more deals in the pipeline.

Ascension hastens exit out of Michigan, said a headline in Crains Detroit this month, after the health care system sold three hospitals in the northern part of the state to a large health system affiliated with the University of Michigan and set up a joint venture with another large system in the Detroit area.

Ascension, trying to dig itself out from a $3billion operating loss in fiscal year 2023, has not limited its sell-off to hospitals. It has also sold its interest in laboratory operations and a health insurance group.

So does Ascension plan to close or sell more Indiana assets?

In an unusual move for a national hospital system amid a major restructuring, Ascension disclosed part of its plans. It is not considering offloading or closing any more Indiana operations, an Ascension corporate spokeswoman told IBJ in an email.

The changes to our footprint in other parts of our national ministry are designed to ensure sustainable and favorable options for those communities, the email said. There are no plans to make any such changes to our Indiana ministry.

Several health care consultants said they would be shocked if Ascension sold a large number of properties in Indiana or exited the state altogether, as it has done elsewhere.

I wouldnt just be surprised. I would be totally aghast, said Ed Abel, retired director of health care practice at Indianapolis-based Blue & Co., an accounting and consulting firm. I would just say its never going to happen.

Thats because Indiana is one of the systems most profitable operations, delivering $192million in net income for the system for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, the most recent Indiana figures available. The same year, the system as a whole lost $879million from operations.

Translation: Indiana is a moneymaker for Ascension, helping it to fund a huge system that otherwise would be posting much larger losses.

So any further cost-cutting in Indiana would be relatively minor, some experts say.

In general, large health systems are constantly tweaking their portfolios, said David Blish, director of health care consulting for Katz Sapper & Miller, an Indianapolis-based accounting and consulting firm. I doubt Indiana Ascension will contract at a significant scale.

Ascension pointed to its flagship campus on West 86th Street, where construction continues on $325million worth of improvements, including a new brain and spine center, a new womens and childrens tower, and a new parking garage.

The company said the investments will help the companys operations here, known as Ascension St. Vincent Indiana, a premier destination for care in the Midwest.

Separately, Ascension St. Vincent this week issued invitations for a public celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the companys West 86th Street hospital. It said the event will take place 2-4 p.m. April 28 on top of the parking garage at the corner of Harcourt Drive and Katie Knox Drive.

The 50th anniversary of our 86th Street location gives us the opportunity to honor all of those who contributed to making the hospital what it is today as well as look forward to the future of health care, the invitation said.

The event will mark the 1974 move, when staff of St. Vincent and the U.S. Army Reserves transferred 102 patients from the hospitals Fall Creek campus (now part of Ivy Tech Community College) to a new campus on the northwest side of Indianapolis, which was then largely fields and forest.

Twenty-five years later, in 1999, Ascension bought St. Vincent for an undisclosed amount.

That marked the end of more than a century of independent ownership, since four nuns from the Daughters of Charity religious order arrived in Indianapolis in 1881 at the invitation of Catholic Bishop Francis Chatard and set up St. Vincent Infirmary in a house near Vermont and East streets.

Within a few years, the infirmary grew to 50 beds and changed its named to St. Vincent Hospital. It relocated twice before the move to West 86th Street. After decades of expansion, that campus now fills the better part of 20 square blocks between West 86th and West 79th streets.

Ascension said the six-story Women & Childrens Tower going up on the south side of the campus is designed to address the high level of maternal and infant mortality in Indianapolis. It will feature 109 private neonatal intensive care unit rooms along with an expanded pediatric intensive care unit. The tower is scheduled to be completed this year.

The four-story Brain and Spine Hospital is rising at the front of the campus and will include operating rooms, an intensive care unit, an intensive care step-down unit, and a residency training program. Ascension said it expects construction to be completed early next year.

The new projects, announced in 2021, represent one of the largest capital investments in decades for Ascension Indiana. It also gave the strong suggestion that the corporate parent was committed to the Indianapolis flagship, a major anchor on the busy West 86th Street commercial corridor.

So why is Ascension building here while unloading hospitals elsewhere and exiting some states altogether?

In many cases, the answer seems to be that Ascension is leaving where it cannot take advantage of a wide system of community hospitals in coordination with a top-tier hospital to handle complex cases.

In modern health care, hospital systems increasingly want a network of hospitals that can act as feeders for the major hospital in a large metropolitan area. And if they are a small player in a market that is dominated by a huge competitor, they have less chance to fill beds, negotiate favorable insurance plans and make money.

In Minnesota, the world-famous Mayo Clinic dominates the market with net patient revenue of $3.32billion in 2022far ahead of second place University of Minnesota Medical Center, which pulled in $1.68billion.

Who is ever going to beat the Mayo Clinic there? Abel said. Yes, theres a lot of competition up there. But theres a lot that have dropped out and said, Were never going to be as good as those guys.

Central Indiana has no single dominant player. Instead, there are four or five large players and a few dozen small players, mostly in the suburbs. And each system has a different claim to fame.

In the nine-county metropolitan area, Ascension St. Vincent has the most staffed beds, with 1,995, ahead of Indiana University Health (1,514), Community Health Network (1,124), Franciscan Health Network (563) and Eskenazi Health (333), according to IBJ research. (Those figures are from 2022, the most recent year available.)

Yet in the same year, Indiana University Health pulled in far more revenue across its statewide system, $8.1billion, than Ascension St. Vincent ($3.7billion) and Community Health ($3.1billion).

Statewide, Ascension owns 19 hospitals from Anderson to Brazil, including facilities in Carmel, Fishers, Indianapolis, Anderson and Kokomo.

In addition to being a large player, Ascension St. Vincent is performing well financially in central Indiana and has no reason to start offloading assets, Abel said.

Indiana is what I would call an aircraft carrier for Ascension, he said. They have a huge presence here, and theyre proud of it.

And Ascensions corporate leadership clearly has a soft spot for Indiana. The companys CEO, Joseph Impicciche, was raised in Crawfordsville and earned his bachelors at Wabash College. He went on to earn a law degree and a master of health administration degree from Indiana University. He practiced for more than a decade at Indianapolis law firm Hall Render Killian Heath & Lyman, which specializes in health care law.

Ascension declined to make Impicciche or any other senior leader available for an interview with IBJ.

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Ascension health care system retracts nationwidebut not in Indy Indianapolis Business Journal - Indianapolis Business Journal

Universities build their own ChatGPT-like AI tools – Inside Higher Ed

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When ChatGPT debuted in November 2022, Ravi Pendse knew fast action was needed. While the University of Michigan formed an advisory group to explore ChatGPTs impact on teaching and learning, Pendse, UMichs chief information officer, took it further.

Months later, before the fall 2023 semester, the university launched U-M GPT, a homebuilt generative AI tool that now boasts between 14,000 to 16,000 daily users.

A report is great, but if we could provide tools, that would be even better, Pendse said, noting that Michigan is very concerned about equity. U-M GPT is all free; we wanted to even the playing field.

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The University of Michigan is one of a small number of institutions that have created their own versions of ChatGPT for student and faculty use over the last year. Those include Harvard University, Washington University, the University of California, Irvine and UC San Diego. The effort goes beyond jumping on the artificial intelligence (AI) bandwagonfor the universities, its a way to overcome concerns about equity, privacy and intellectual property rights.

We need to talk about AI for good of course, but lets talk about not creating the next version of the digital divide.

Students can use OpenAIs ChatGPT and similar tools for everything from writing assistance to answering homework questions. The newest version of ChatGPT costs $20 per month, while older versions remain free. The newer models have more up-to-date information, which could give students who can afford it a leg up.

That fee, no matter how small, creates a gap unfair to students, said Tom Andriola, UC Irvines chief digital officer.

Do we think its right, in who we are as an organization, for some students to pay $20 a month to get access to the best [AI] models while others have access to lesser capabilities? Andriola said. Principally, it pushes us on an equity scale where AI has to be for all. We need to talk about AI for good of course, but lets talk about not creating the next version of the digital divide.

UC Irvine publicly announced their own AI chatbotdubbed ZotGPTon Monday. Deployed in various capacities since October 2023, it remains in testing and is only available to staff and faculty. The tool can help them with everything from creating class syllabi to writing code.

Offering their own version of ChatGPT allows faculty and staff to use the technology without the concerns that come with OpenAIs version, Andriola said.

When we saw generative AI, we said, We need to get people learning this as fast as possible, with as many people playing with this that we could, he said. [ZotGPT] lets people overcome privacy concerns, intellectual property concerns, and gives them an opportunity of, How can I use this to be a better version of myself tomorrow?

That issue of intellectual property has been a major concern and a driver behind universities creating their own AI tools. OpenAI has not been transparent in how it trains ChatGPT, leaving many worried about research and potential privacy violations.

Albert Lai, deputy faculty lead for digital transformation at Washington University, spearheaded the launch of WashU GPT last year.

WashUalong with UC Irvine and University of Michiganbuilt their tools using Microsofts Azure platform, which allows users to integrate the work into their institutions applications. The platform uses open source software available for free. In contrast, proprietary platforms like OpenAIs ChatGPT have an upfront fee.

A look at WashU GPT, a version of Washington Universitys own generative AI platform that promises more privacy and IP security than ChatGPT.

Provided/Washington University

There are some downsides when universities train their own models. Because a universitys GPT is based on the research, tests and lectures put in by an institution, it may not be as up-to-date as the commercial ChatGPT.

But thats a price we agreed to pay; we thought about privacy, versus what were willing to give up, Lai said. And we felt the value in maintaining privacy was higher in our community.

To ensure privacy is kept within a universitys GPT, Lai encouraged other institutions to ensure any Microsoft institutional agreements include data protection for IP. UC Irvine and UMichigan also have agreements with Microsoft that any information put into their GPT models will stay within the university and not be publicly available.

Weve developed a platform on top of [Microsofts] foundational models to provide faculty comfort that their IP is protected, Pendse said. Any faculty memberincluding myselfwould be very uncomfortable in putting a lecture and exams in an OpenAI model (such as ChatGPT) because then its out there for the world.

Once you figure out the secret sauce, its pretty straightforward.

It remains to be seen whether more universities will build their own generative AI chatbots.

Consulting firm Ithaka S+R formed a 19-university task force in September dubbed Making AI Generative for Higher Education to further study the use and rise of generative AI. The task force members include Princeton University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Chicago.

Lai and others encourage university IT officials to continue experimenting with what is publicly available, which can eventually morph into their own versions of ChatGPT.

I think more places do want to do it and most places havent figured out how to do it yet, he said. But frankly, in my opinion, once you figure out the magic sauce its pretty straightforward.

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Universities build their own ChatGPT-like AI tools - Inside Higher Ed

‘Digital twins’ project will help clean up space junk, repair and decommission spacecrafts – University of California

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Imagine Earth from space: a blue marble, a pristine orb that is our one and only home. But like many other places on the planet itself, this view is littered with the evidence of humans: in the earths orbit floats more than 30,000 individual pieces of space debris larger than 10 cm, according to a 2023 report from the European Space Agency.

A new project led by Ricardo Sanfelice, UC Santa Cruz Professor and Department Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will develop technology for better spacecraft that use complex robotics to clean up space debris, as well as repair, refuel and decommission other spacecraft. A research team will create highly detailed digital twin models of spacecraft that can carry out these complex tasks in space and develop next-generation control algorithms to manipulate those models, enabling experimentation without the costs of testing on the physical system.

Sanfelice and his research team have been awarded $2.5 million from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Space University Research Initiative (SURI) for this three-year project. Co-principal investigators include UC Santa Cruz Professor of Applied Mathematics Daniele Venturi, UT Austin Professor of Aerospace Engineering Karen Wilcox, and University of Michigan Professor of Aerospace Engineering Ilya Kolmanovsk; and the team will collaborate with government and industry partners including the Air Force Research Lab Space Vehicles Directorate, The University of Arizona, Raytheon Technologies, Trusted Space, Inc., and Orbital Outpost X.

A digital twin is a computer model of a physical system, designed to perfectly mimic the properties of the real-world object, including all of the instruments, computers, sensors, surrounding environment, and anything else the system might include. Digital twins enable researchers to conduct experiments and run analysis in the digital world, testing what concepts might work in the real world to determine if they are worth building and manufacturing.

Unlike more traditional simulations, digital twins often incorporate machine learning that allows the system to improve itself through experimentations, providing valuable iteration to build a more accurate and detailed system.

Digital twins can be useful in a range of engineering disciplines, but are particularly relevant for aerospace engineering where the costs associated with building the real systems are so high.

You can accelerate your production, you can reduce time and costs and risk of spacecraft design because spacecraft technology is very expensive and requires a lot of certification and regulation before they can go into space, Sanfelice said. Rather than performing those experiments which take a lot of time in the real world, with a digital twin you can do conceptual analysis and initial validation in the computer environment. This same logic extends to other complex and costly systems its all about scale and reduction of production time, cost, and risk while maintaining system performance and safety.

Digital twins are also especially useful for aerospace engineering because they allow engineers to test complex scenarios and so-called corner cases, situations where multiple parameters are at their extreme, within the realm of the computer. Highly complex and extreme situations are more likely to occur in the harsh conditions of space, and cant be fully replicated for experimentation back on Earth.

The models will enable the researchers to deeply examine what is necessary to carry out the highly complex tasks of clearing up space debris and using a spacecraft to refuel, repair, or demission other spacecraft. Such tasks could include a situation where a robotic arm on one spacecraft is trained to grab another spacecraft that is malfunctioning and tumbling through space, potentially damaging one or both of the systems. The researchers need to teach the computers to handle the tumbling and steering, developing optimization-based techniques to quickly compute and solve unexpected problems as they arise while also allowing for possible human intervention.

Sanfelice and his Hybrid Systems Lab will focus on developing the control algorithms that allow for experimentation on the spacecraft digital twins. The digital twin models need to be so complex to fully encapsulate the physics and computing variables of the real-world systems they represent, and this in turn requires new methods to control the models that go beyond the current state-of-the-art.

I have this massive detailed model of my system, it keeps updating as the system evolves and I run experiments can I write an algorithm that makes the digital twin do what I want it to do, and as a consequence hopefully the real physical system will do the same? Sanfelice said.

Sanfelices work will center around developing model predictive control algorithms, a type of optimization-based control scheme, to control the digital twins, of which Wilcox will lead the creation. Sanfelices lab develops robotic manipulators for grasping and other tasks performed by robotics, which require hybrid control schemes to enable the robotic fingers to be able to transition between conditions of contact and no contact with the object they are manipulating.

While the model predictive control techniques they develop for this project will be highly relevant to aerospace applications, Sanfelice believes there is an opportunity to expand to other complex application areas and develop more advanced basic science for digital twins and their control.

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'Digital twins' project will help clean up space junk, repair and decommission spacecrafts - University of California

Frontline Forum Part 1: Challenges and Opportunities to Enhance Psoriasis Management – Dermatology Times

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As the understanding of psoriasis continues to evolve, the imperative of personalized care has gained prominence, reshaping the traditional paradigms of treatment. In the recentDermatology Timescustom video series Advancements in Psoriasis Care: Navigating Emerging Therapies and Guidelines, experts in the management of skin conditions discussed the latest developments in plaque psoriasis management. The panel discussion included Linda Stein Gold, MD, of Henry Ford Health in Detroit, Michigan; Mona Shahriari, MD, of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut; Michael Cameron, MD, of Cameron Dermatology in New York, New York; Leon Kircik, MD, of Derm Research, PLLC, in Louisville, Kentucky; and George Han, MD, of Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. The conversation shed light on the evolving paradigms, evidence-based approaches, and need for individualized care in managing thiscondition (Table).

Stein Gold emphasized the challenges posed by complex treatment regimens and said, The use of complex regimens with multiple topical agents can lead to lower adherence and less effective treatment. This sentiment underscores the critical need to streamline treatment approaches to enhance patient adherence and optimize treatment outcomes.

The panelists also highlighted the impact of treatment complexity on patient adherence, with Cameron noting, The more complex the regimen is, the lower the adherence, which means were less effectively [managing] the disease. This insight underscores the direct correlation between treatment complexity and patient adherence, emphasizing the need for streamlined andpatient-friendly regimens.

Furthermore, Shahriari said, Its really a matter of simplifying the treatment regimen. This sentiment underscores the need to reevaluate treatment approaches and streamline regimens to enhance patient adherence andtreatment efficacy.

In the realm of psoriasis management, the emergence of steroid phobia and evolving patient preferences has sparked critical discussions among health care professionals. Kircik highlighted the growing trend of steroid phobia among patients, stating, There is now this trend that nobody wants to be on steroids. This observation underscores the shifting attitudes toward steroid-based treatments and the impact on patient-provider discussions regarding treatment options.

The panelists also addressed the concerns surrounding patient preferences for nonsteroidal treatment options, with Stein Gold emphasizing the need to consider alternative therapies, stating, I think of steroids as a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Its really a Band-Aid. This sentiment underscores the evolving perspectives on steroid-based treatments and the need to explore nonsteroidal alternatives to address patient preferences and concerns. Additionally, Cameron provided insights into the prevalence of steroid phobia, saying, I find that [for] most of my patients, whether they [have] mild, moderate, or severe [disease], I dont want them using steroidslong term.

Psoriasis management guidelines serve as a critical resource, providing evidence-based recommendations for the management of psoriasis. Stein Gold addressed the limitations of current treatment guidelines and said, The problem is the guidelines are not for psoriasis. Theyre being done for atopic dermatitis right now. This observation sparked a conversation about the need for updated and comprehensive guidelines that align with the evolving landscape ofpsoriasis management.

The panelists also addressed the implications of treatment guidelines on patient care, with Kircik emphasizing the need for individualized treatment approaches, stating, We are looking for new topicals that are steroid freeor nonsteroidal.

Shahriari expressed the importance of defining disease severity in treatment guidelines and noted, I think we need to talk more about the definitions of mild, moderate, [and] severe psoriasis. This perspective highlights the need for clear and comprehensive definitions of disease severity to guide treatment approaches and optimize patient outcomes.

The panel noted that guidelines are often used against providers by attorneys and insurance companies and can be prescriptive rather than informative. The entire panel agreed that guidelines should be based on a review of the literature and provide a comprehensive overview of available treatments rather thanspecific recommendations.

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Frontline Forum Part 1: Challenges and Opportunities to Enhance Psoriasis Management - Dermatology Times

10 U.S. National Parks With Beaches – TheTravel

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Summary

There are 63 national parks in the US, and over 400 national park units are managed by the National Park Service. With so many millions of protected miles to explore, these national parks manage to protect every type of environment.

This is good news for those struggling to decide if they want a beach-side vacation getaway or a full-blown national park road trip through the US; some parks make it possible to enjoy both. Located off the coast of some of the most popular ocean-side cities or along the miles of shore along the Great Lakes, there are hundreds of miles of beaches to explore in the US.

These 10 national parks in the US have some truly exquisite beaches, with a variety of wildlife, sandy space, and surrounding natural beauty to enjoy.

Sand Beach in Acadia National Park, Maine, USA, one of Maine's most beautiful beaches

Acadia National Park in Maine has been ranked as one of the most beautiful places in the US, and its scenic New England beaches are just one more thing to love.

Acadia National Park features both beautiful ocean beaches like Little Hunters Beach, and scenic lakeside shores, such as Echo Lake Beach. Visitors to the park often find themselves struggling to decide whether to set up at the beach or enjoy the ocean and lake views from one of the best hiking trails in Acadia National Park.

The variety of shorelines to explore means that guests can enjoy everything from sunbathing to kayaking to swimming (although guests should remember that this is the northern corner of the US, even in the summer, the water is brisk at best).

Sandy beach onSan Miguel Island in Channel Islands National Park, California, USA

For those looking for some truly untainted beaches in US national parks, it's hard to imagine a better destination than Channel Islands National Park.

Accessible only by ferry, the beaches and rocky shores of the Channel Islands have been spared the wear and tear of motorized vehicles. Additionally, because the Channel Islands are one of the most difficult national parks in the US to visit, the shores here are perfect for a quieter day at the beach.

A beach in Olympic National Park, Washington, USA

Olympic National Park is the most visited of Washington State's three national parks, and for good reason. In addition to the temperate rainforests and miles of incredible hiking trails in Olympic National Park, this scenic area just two hours from Seattle protects some of Washington's most beautiful beaches.

There are over a dozen beaches to choose from in Olympic National Park, including Ruby Beach, Sand Point, and Rialto Beach. Unlike the white sand beaches of the more southern national parks, visitors to Olympic National Parks beaches are likely to see dramatic rock formations and red-tinted sand on their beach excursions.

View from Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida

Dry Tortugas National Park is one of the least visited National Parks in the US, thanks to its inaccessibility off the coast of the Florida Keys. While the beaches of the seven islands that make up Dry Tortugas National Park require months of planning to get to, there is no doubt that these sandy shores are worth the work.

The Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas Beach Section is the most isolated beach in the Florida Keys, which manages to further emphasize its beauty. Since the seaplanes only carry 10 passengers at a time, with limited flights to the park, guests will have these white sand beaches practically to themselves.

Scenic coastline inRedwood National Park, California, USA

Giant redwoods and beautiful California coastline? Redwoods National and State Parks may just be the perfect combination of land and sea. While the northern shores of California are a little chilly for full-blown swimming excursions, there are plenty of black sand, striking rock formations, and rolling sand dunes to explore.

While all of the beaches at Redwoods National and State Parks are beautiful, Enderts Beach and False Klamath Cove are two of the best beaches for those looking for some coastal wildlife. With thriving tidepools and unusual rock formations, these beaches highlight the beauty of the California coast and are some of the best US National Park beaches overall.

Boca Chita Beach and Lighthouse,Biscayne National Park, Florida, USA

Biscayne National Park is one of the most unique national parks in the US. Nearly 95% of Biscayne National Park is underwater, featuring protected coral reefs and coastal formations. The other 5% are some of the best national park beaches in the US.

The Boca Chita Key Beach, which also features the Boca Chita lighthouse, is perhaps the most photographed beach in Biscayne National Park. However, the entire Sands Key and Elliott Key, both of which frame the underwater portion of Biscayne, are lined with beautiful shorelines. Each one of these sandy stretches is perfect for a relaxing day on a US National Park beach.

The rocky volcanic coast ofHawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii, USA

While the volcanoes and frozen lava flows may be the most famous part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, this popular destination on the Big Island also has some of the best national park beaches in the US.

While some of the scenic shoreline, namely the region that is part of the Kahuku-Phue parcel, is closed to the public for the time being, other beaches like Halape Cove can be enjoyed by adventurous travelers. After backpacking through the rugged jungle formed by the rich volcanic soil, the beaches of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park are a truly one-of-a-kind sight.

View of Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska

While the beaches in Alaska may not be full of white sand and warm ocean water, there is something inherently beautiful about these northern shores. Lined with wildlife, from river otters to sea lions, the beaches of Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve are some of the most enchanting places to see the region's spectacular beauty.

The namesake Glacier Bay is the crowning jewel of the park's beaches. With wildflowers in the spring, floating glaciers in the bay, and a variety of Alaska's iconic animals, a beach visit to Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve may just be the seaside getaway travelers didn't know they needed.

Canoers on the shore of Lake Superior in Isle Royale National Park, Michigan

When travelers think of beaches, they often think about crashing ocean waves along the coast. The US is home to thousands of lakes, however, and some of those lakes hide the best national park beaches in America.

One such example is Isle Royale National Park, a conglomeration of islands on the Great Lakes that features miles of lake beaches. Another national park that cannot be reached by car, the beaches of Isle Royale National Park are pristine. Despite being a lake beach, the depth of the Great Lakes means that not only is swimming, paddleboarding, and kayaking available, but snorkeling can be enjoyed as well.

Aerial view of Trunk Bay on St John Island, US Virgin Islands National Park, USA

While not part of the 50 states, the Virgin Islands are a territory of the United States, and the idyllic Virgin Islands National Park has some of the most beautiful national park beaches in the US.

Nearly half of the land protected by Virgin Islands National Park is underwater, so beachgoers often find themselves snorkeling off the shore to make the most of their visit. A tropical destination near the Caribbean, there is no doubt that the beaches of Virgin Islands National Park, including Salomon/Honeymoon Bay and Hawksnest Bay are perfect for casual visitors and avid ocean explorers alike.

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10 U.S. National Parks With Beaches - TheTravel