Oregon Governor Steps In As Doctor, Nurse Strike Hits 3-Week Mark
The strike, which involves 5,000 health care workers from Providence Health in Oregon, is the first in the state's history to involve physicians. Other news from around the nation is on measles cases in Texas, a "clinic in a box" in Tampa, a private equity deal for a Long Island retirement community, and more.
MedPage Today:
Doctors, Nurses In Oregon Still On Strike
As the strike by nearly 5,000 healthcare workers from Providence Health in Oregon reaches the 3-week mark, representatives from the Oregon Nurses Association (ONA) union, which is representing the workers, and the health system are in mediation at the request of Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D). (Henderson, 1/30)
CBS News:
Endeavor Health Ending Inpatient Psychiatric Care At Northwest Community Hospital, Laying Off "Small Number" Of Employees
Endeavor Health, a network of hospitals and medical clinics in the Chicago area, is shutting down inpatient psychiatric care later this year at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. Inpatient psychiatric services at the hospital will be discontinued starting on April 11. The move will affect about 100 employees at the hospital, who will be offered other positions across the system, Endeavor Health confirmed on Thursday. (Feurer, 1/30)
KFF Health News:
Drawn-Out Overhaul Of Troubled Montana Hospital Leaves Lawmakers In Limbo
Montana lawmakers are grappling with what they can do to improve patient care and operations at the state’s psychiatric hospital since realizing that the efforts underway to restore the troubled facility’s good standing could take more time. The nearly 150-year-old Montana State Hospital has recently struggled to care for patients and retain staff. The problems came to a head in 2022, when federal investigators yanked the hospital’s federal certification — and funding — from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services because of a pattern of patient deaths found to be preventable, as well as injuries and falls. (Silvers, 1/31)
Bloomberg:
Private Equity Deal For NY Harborside Retirement Home Threatens To Evict Seniors
Wheelchair-bound Terie Gelberg has lived at the Harborside, a retirement community on Long Island’s North Shore, for almost two decades. It was supposed to be the last home for the 99-year-old with memory issues, but plans to sell the bankrupt facility to a private equity firm threaten to upend her care. She, alongside other residents of Harborside’s Port Washington nursing home, memory-care and assisted-living units will be forced to relocate if a bankruptcy court judge approves Focus Healthcare Partners’ $80 million deal to buy the complex in February. (Braun, 1/30)
San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F. Must Rehire Employees Who Refused To Get Vaccinated, Court Rules
San Francisco must rehire two city employees who left their jobs after refusing to be vaccinated against the coronavirus for religious reasons, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. The Selina Keene and Melody Fountila were longtime employees of San Francisco’s Human Resources Agency, where they worked on job training and employment plans for low-income residents. They retired from their jobs after the city required all 35,000 of its employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus by Nov. 29, 2021. (Egelko, 1/30)
The Texas Tribune:
At Least Four Measles Cases Reported In Texas
At least four cases of measles, including two involving school-aged children, have been reported in Texas in less than two weeks, putting state health agencies on alert. For some communities, this is the first case of measles in more than 20 years. (Simpson and Carver, 1/30)
'Clinic in a box' helps homeless patients —
WUSF:
High-Tech 'Clinic In A Box' Delivers Remote Health Care To Residents Of A Tampa Homeless Shelter
A Florida-based technology company is delivering health care solutions to people living without housing in Tampa — and it's coming in the shape of a box. The OnMed CareStation is an 8-by-11-foot self-enclosed pod that plugs into the wall and resembles an exam room. It's equipped with thermal imaging, medical devices to take vital signs like blood pressure and a high-definition camera for real-time video chats with teleheath providers. (Paul, 1/30)
