Layoffs Begin At State Hospital Even As Cases Soar Among Patients, Staff

AP: COVID-19 Cases Top 200 At Hospital As Layoffs Announced
As coronavirus cases top 200 at Washington state’s largest psychiatric hospital, officials are implementing new procedures to try to get it under control. Making matters worse, the economic downturn that resulted from the pandemic, and the loss of revenues needed to run state government, is forcing the Department of Social and Health Services to make budget cuts, including layoffs at Western State Hospital. (Bellisle, 12/17)

In other health care industry news —

The Washington Post: Atlanta Nurses Uniform Company Becomes An Essential Business As Covid Cases Surge 
For months, Damion Childs stood behind the counter of his medical uniform store, dressed in a hazmat suit with a Bible on the counter, watching nervously as the nurses finished their shifts at the Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center South across the street and came in for a change of work clothes. “The people coming in here … they’re walking in fresh from work,” Childs said of the nurses from the hospital, which treats covid-19 patients. “I might’ve sweated about 10 pounds off during those two months. … It was scary.” (Beachum, 12/17)

Modern Healthcare: Highmark Health Inks Six-Year Cloud, Tech Deal With Google
Highmark Health, which owns health insurer Highmark and health system Allegheny Health Network, on Thursday formally unveiled its "Living Health" model, a project that the company has said is designed to provide patients with better coordinated and more personalized care and clinicians with technology that cuts down on time spent on administrative tasks. As part of the project, Highmark Health will work with Google Cloud to build a cloud-based platform that includes centralized scheduling, care management and analytics and artificial intelligence tools. Highmark Health and Google Cloud will also co-develop analytics tools that help create care plans from patients' health data and flag possible health issues for early intervention. (Kim Cohen, 12/17)

Modern Healthcare: AHA Creates Senior Management Role To Oversee Health Equity Strategies
The American Hospital Association is adding a new position within its senior leadership that will be focused on promoting the organization's workforce diversity, equity and inclusion strategies. The AHA announced Thursday that current AHA Vice President of Strategic Policy Planning Joy Lewis has been promoted to the newly created role of senior vice president of health equity strategies. Lewis, who has been with AHA since 2018, will oversee the association's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to reduce health and healthcare disparities and build healthy communities. (Ross Johnson, 12/17)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid MCOs Covering Dual-Eligibles To Join Direct Contracting
CMS' Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation will allow Medicaid managed care organizations serving beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare to take part in its new direct contracting model, the agency said Thursday. It's the first payment model to enable Medicaid MCOs to coordinate and manage care for beneficiaries enrolled in both Medicaid managed care and Medicare fee-for-service coverage, according to CMMI. The agency wants to encourage Medicaid MCOs to coordinate care to lower Medicare fee-for-service costs by allowing them to take part in direct contracting's global and professional options. (Brady, 12/17)

Stat: Pediatrician Network Puts Spotlight On Climate Change’s Effects On Children
As the effects of climate change play out worldwide, pediatricians see the evidence in their offices. There are the children with asthma who experience more frequent attacks as a result of excess heat and longer allergy seasons. And then there are kids who have missed vaccinations or other routine care because more frequent hurricanes or other natural disasters have displaced their families. (Chakradhar, 12/18)