State Highlights: Ga.’s Rural Hospital Closures Offer Window Into Difficulties; In Conn., Lawmaker Advances Bill To Limit Online Eye Exams

Marketplace: Rural Georgia Residents Are Hit Hard By Local Hospital Closure
Stewart-Webster Hospital, in Richland, Georgia, is one of about 80 hospitals that have closed across the country since 2010, according to the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. When a small community loses its hospital, residents say it loses more than just its health care provider. The community also loses jobs and a sense of security that emergency help is nearby. (Yu, 4/7)

The Associated Press: Connecticut Optometrists Seek To Limit Online Eye Exams
Some optometrists are pushing back against new technology that allows consumers to get prescriptions for contact lenses and glasses with the click of a keyboard and a smartphone. While proponents of these limited online eye exams argue they provide both financial savings and convenience, medical professionals contend patients could be put at risk. Without a full, face-to-face exam from a doctor, they argue potential medical problems could be overlooked. (4/8)

Pioneer Press: Minnesota Security Hospital In St. Peter Has Problems
To show why the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter needs a pricey makeover, security counselor Tim Headlee climbed down a flight of stairs in a vacated residential unit one afternoon last week, waved to staff members and guests watching from a nearby glass-enclosed observation office and then disappeared around a corner. “It’s a blind spot,” the hidden Headlee yelled as he stood near the entrance to a two-patient bedroom. It’s also one of the most risky places to be in the state’s largest, prison-like psychiatric institution, which currently treats 369 of Minnesota’s most acutely mentally ill and dangerous patients. (Salisbury, 4/7)

Los Angeles Times: Group Tackles Health As Citywide Responsibility
Community leaders took to the Alex Theatre stage on Thursday to sign a pledge proclaiming their commitment to improving Glendale’s collective health. The event was part of the Glendale Healthier Community Coalition’s “We Own the Health of Our Community” initiative and representatives from more than 100 organizations, including local businesses and government agencies, signed the pledge. Signatories included Mayor Paula Devine, Glendale Unified Supt. Winfred Roberson Jr. and Glendale Fire Chief Greg Fish. (Nguyen, 4/7)

The Associated Press: Agreement Means Kentucky Abortion Clinic Won't Close For Now
Lawyers for Kentucky's governor have halted efforts to shut down the state's last abortion clinic pending the outcome of a lawsuit aimed at preventing the closure. The latest development came as lawyers for Gov. Matt Bevin and the Louisville clinic submitted an agreement to U.S. District Judge Greg Stivers, who had not yet signed it. In it, Bevin's administration agreed to renew the license for EMW Women's Surgical Center until the lawsuit is resolved. (4/7)

Miami Herald: Florida Agrees To Settle Suit Overn Inmates Whose Hernias Weren't Treated 
About 1,800 current and former Florida prison inmates who were denied medical care for hernias will be entitled to divide $1.7 million in damages from a class-action lawsuit under a conditional settlement agreed to by the Department of Corrections and its former prison health-care provider, Corizon, and filed in federal court in Tallahassee last week. The suit was brought by the Florida Justice Institute and the Coral Gables law firm of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton in September 2015 on behalf of three inmates. (Klas, 4/7)

The Associated Press: Maryland Doctors Pays $450K To Resolve Medicaid Fraud Case
Authorities say a Maryland doctor has paid $450,000 to the state to resolve allegations that she submitted false billing records to the Medicaid program. Officials say this week’s settlement with Dr. Sabiha Mohiuddin, who owns and operates a primary care practice serving Medicaid patients, stems from a civil complaint filed in the Circuit Court for Frederick County. (4/8)

Sacramento Bee: New Guidelines, Funding Help Ease Alzheimer's Diagnoses 
It’s the much-feared diagnosis no one wants to hear. But under new state and federal guidelines, more patients could be getting easier and earlier diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease, which already affects more than 600,000 Californians. (Buck, 4/8)

The Washington Post: Hawaii LGBT Couples Seek Equal Access To Fertility Treatments
Sean Smith and his husband paid more than $20,000 for a fertility procedure when they decided to have a child using a surrogate mother. They did not know at the time that if they were a heterosexual couple, they might have saved that money. Now, Smith and other members of Hawaii’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are lobbying for equal access to the financial help that married heterosexual couples receive under state law. (Bussewitz, 4/9)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Transgender Employees Sue Wisconsin, UW System
Two transgender University of Wisconsin employees sued state entities Friday in federal court over their refusal to pay for their gender transition surgeries. The two employees sued the UW System, the Board of Regents, insurers and others with the assistance of the national and Wisconsin arms of the American Civil Liberties Union. (Marley, 4/7)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: For Profit Group Homes For Disabled
The final months of Christen Gordon’s short life highlight the government’s increasing reliance on private companies to perform what has long been considered a societal obligation: caring for people with mental illness and developmental disabilities. Across the nation, a multi-billion-dollar industry that runs group homes and other small, community-based facilities has largely supplanted public institutions. (Judd, 4/10)

Albany Herald: Physician Looking To Institute ‘$1 A Minute’ Doctor Visit To Albany
Dr. Samuel Williams is a young physician looking for a fresh start. He also has an innovative idea for making health care accessible to low-income populations. An Albany resident since 2014, Williams, 36, has established Williams Geriatric Medicine and Medical Services PC to spring to life a primary care setting through which he said he would introduce the “$1 a minute visit” clinic in Albany if his plan is approved by state medical officials. (Parks, 4/8)

North Carolina Health News: Mentally Ill Could Be Charged With “Hate Crime” Under Proposed Bill
As states around the country introduce and pass “Blue Lives Matter” laws, North Carolina has its own version worked into the omnibus “First Responders Act of 2017. ”House Bill 181 deals with a myriad of issues related to first responders, but section seven would classify assault against a police officer, emergency medical technician or firefighter as a “hate crime.” (Knopf, 4/10)

California Healthline: Tracking Air Quality Block By Block
A local environmental advocacy group last week launched a first-of-its kind monitoring project, installing air quality sensors in the densely packed neighborhoods near this city’s port to give the people who live and work there on-the-ground readings of pollutants that can seriously injure their health. (Nguyen, 4/10)

Miami Herald: When Cops Shoot: A Closer Look At Why Police Fire Their Weapons In Florida 
The Times analyzed more than 10,000 pages of police records and combed through hundreds of media reports and court files, and conducted dozens of fresh interviews, to build Florida’s most comprehensive database of police shootings... The Times database accounts for all shootings in Florida in which someone was hit by a bullet, allowing a more comprehensive look at the numbers. It also accounts for demographics and the circumstances leading to the shootings to better understand when and why police use deadly force. (Montgomery and Humburg, 4/7)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cuyahoga County Infant Mortality Data Reveals Big Hurdles: Saving The Smallest 
During the past few months, leaders of the region's fledgling infant mortality initiative, First Year Cleveland, have been digging through birth, death and medical records to assemble the first local picture of these lost children: who they were, what killed them, and both when and what kind of care their mothers received. Their preliminary findings suggest that the group, formed 15 months ago and just now settling on a mission statement, faces a long, tough road if it expects to significantly reduce infant deaths in the area. (Zeltner, 4/9)

Seattle Times: Jury: Virginia Mason Should Pay Couple $8.5M In Disfigured-Penis Case
A jury awarded $8.5 million to a Seattle couple after the man underwent a surgery at Virginia Mason Medical Center and developed complications that led to months of reconstructing his penis.The couple said they had insisted that a specific doctor handle a portion of the procedure, but they learned later that a less-experienced doctor did so. (Young and Baker, 4/7)