State Highlights: CDC Receive $480M To Build Lab For Dangerous Germs In Atlanta; Kansas Hospital Issues New Measles Warning

The Associated Press: CDC Get $480 Million To Replace Lab For Deadliest Germs
The nation's top public health agency has its money for a new lab to handle dangerous germs. Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked Congress for funds to build a new state-of-the art laboratory building. CDC officials got $480 million for the endeavor. Money for the project was tucked inside a $1.3 trillion, 2,232-page government spending bill passed by Congress last week. (Stobbe, 3/29)

Kansas City Star: KC Measles Case At KU Hospital May Have Exposed Others 
The largest medical center in the Kansas City area is warning patients and employees they may have been exposed to measles. The University of Kansas Hospital said Thursday that a person who was treated at the hospital from Friday, March 23, to Monday, March 26, has tested positive for the highly contagious viral illness. (Marso, 3/29)

San Francisco Chronicle: Discipline Based On Arrest Records Upheld For Health Are Professionals 
Doctors and other health professionals in California can be disciplined or lose their licenses for criminal conduct such as possession of illegal drugs even if they complete a pretrial treatment program and have the case erased from their record, under a ruling that has now become final. The state Supreme Court unanimously refused Wednesday to take up a physician’s appeal of a ruling that said a licensing agency, such as the California Medical Board, can rely on arrest records as evidence that a license-holder committed professional misconduct, even if the underlying criminal case no longer exists. (Egelko, 3/29)

NH Times Union: New Chief Medical Officer Appointed At Nashua Hospital
Southern New Hampshire Medical Center has appointed a new chief medical officer. “I am very excited for the opportunity to look at health care in this setting,” said Dr. Timothy Scherer, who will begin his duties on Wednesday. “I was always interested in moving forward into the new health care environment.” Currently, Scherer serves as medical director for Dartmouth -Hitchcock in Nashua, but has been working in the medical field for more than 15 years. (Houghton, 3/29)

The Associated Press: University Recovers Money It Paid To Doctor After His Death
The University of Connecticut announced Thursday that it has recovered more than $50,000 it paid to a slain researcher while it believed he was working from home. Police checking on the welfare of Dr. Pierluigi Bigazzi, a professor of laboratory science and pathology at UConn Health, found his body on Feb. 5 wrapped in plastic inside the house he shared with his wife. (3/29)

Nashville Tennessean: Alexander: Nashville Leading Effort To Make Health Records Easier To Use
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and the nation's chief director for Medicare and Medicaid met with members of the Center for Medical Interoperability on Thursday to highlight the center’s efforts to make it easier for health technologies, including electronic health records and medical devices, to exchange information. Alexander, the Senate health committee chairman, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma gathered with CMI members and the Nashville Health Care Council on the second floor of OneCity's first office building in Nashville to learn about their work, as the Trump administration examines ways for people to better access their health information. (Alund, 3/29)

California Healthline: A Little-Known Activist Thinks Big About Single-Payer
There’s a new guy in Sacramento-town — and he’s leading the charge to ease funding for “single-payer” health care in California.He’s not a doctor or nurse, not a lobbyist or legislator. Dale Fountain, 42, is a publicity-shy high-tech worker seeking signatures for his proposed ballot initiative, mostly through Facebook. (3/29)

Arizona Republic: Banner Health Faces A Federal Investigation From 2016 Data Breach
Banner Health anticipates “negative findings” from an ongoing federal probe of a 2016 cyberattack that exposed the records of nearly 3.7 million patients, employees and others. The Phoenix-based health provider disclosed in its 2017 annual report that a U.S. Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights’ investigation has included queries about the health provider’s security assessments. (Alltucker, 3/29)

The Baltimore Sun: Lifebridge Patients Can Now See Medical Records On Apple Health App
LifeBridge Health patients will now be able to see all of their medical records on their iPhones because of an upgrade Apple made to it’s health app under the new operating system released Thursday. “Now your patients can aggregate their health records from multiple institutions alongside their patient-generated data, creating a more holistic view of their health,” according to an online description of the new app feature. (McDaniels, 3/29)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Corrections Chief Dials Back Court Testimony On Corizon Health
Arizona Department of Corrections Director Charles Ryan has filed an affidavit saying he had "mistakenly testified" this week in federal court about incentive payments made to prison health care provider Corizon Health. Ryan now says all incentive money paid to Corizon "came entirely from funds appropriated for health care." (Jenkins, 3/29)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Lags The State In Embracing Recycled Drinking Water
Though the Sacramento area traditionally has among the highest per capita water use in California, there has been little interest among local water districts in using recycled water to augment local drinking water supplies. The reason? Local waterways such as the Sacramento and American rivers and Folsom Lake provide abundant and comparatively cheap water supplies. (Sabalow , 3/29)

Bloomberg: University Of Michigan Gets $150 Million Gift For Cancer Center
The University of Michigan received the largest donation in the history of its medical school, a $150 million gift from an alumnus who made his fortune in the health insurance industry. In making the gift, Richard Rogel, the founder of the Preferred Provider Organization of Michigan, and his wife, Susan, will have the university’s cancer center named after them. The donation will fund cancer-focused research grants, scholarships and the establishment of a program that brings international researchers to Michigan, the school said in a statement Thursday. (Kate Smith, 3/29)

The Associated Press: Billboard's Lifesaving Message Nets Oregon Nurse New Kidney
For Eugene resident Roxanne Loomis, seven is her lucky number. Her birthday is on the seventh day of the seventh month, July 7. On Feb. 7, 2017, Loomis paid for a billboard advertisement that asked for a kidney. And on Feb. 7 of this year, she got one. (3/29)