State Highlights: Safety Allegations Against Manchester VA Unfounded, Internal Draft Report Shows; Colorado’s Mental Health System Riddled With Failures, Advocates Say

New Hampshire Public Radio: Draft Report: Nearly All Whistleblower Complaints About Manchester VA Were Unfounded
Complaints lodged by a dozen whistleblowers last year about the quality of care at the Manchester VA had consequences. At least four VA leaders lost their jobs and the government poured millions of dollars into improvements at the medical center. But in an internal draft VA report obtained by NHPR, investigators say nearly all of those complaints were unfounded. (Biello, 9/20)

Denver Post: Colorado "Poster Child" For Mental Health Care Failure
The recent fatal shooting of a young, unarmed Broomfield man who had a mental breakdown hours before being killed by Westminster police highlights how cracks in the mental health care system combined with under-resourced law enforcement can have deadly outcomes, mental health advocates say. A lack of treatment oversight by state courts, difficult access to outpatient treatment and hurdles for family members getting their loved ones help make Colorado a “poster child” for failures in the mental health care system, according to a national organization dedicated to researching mental health care issues. (Barnett, 9/20)

NPR: Florida's Requirement Of 'Mental Health' Disclosures By Students Worries Parents
Children registering for school in Florida this year were asked to reveal some history about their mental health. The new requirement is part of a law rushed through the state legislature after the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The state's school districts now must ask whether a child has ever been referred for mental health services on registration forms for new students. (Ochoa, 9/21)

Chicago Tribune: State Supreme Court Upholds Law Allowing Hospital Property-Tax Exemptions
The state’s highest court decided Thursday to uphold a law that allows many hospitals to avoid paying property taxes — an issue that’s spurred debate in Illinois and across the country. The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that a 2012 law allowing not-for-profit hospitals to skip paying property taxes under certain conditions is constitutional. Many of the Chicago area’s biggest names in health care are not-for-profit, including Advocate Aurora Health, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, University of Chicago Medical Center and NorthShore University HealthSystem, among others. (Schencker, 9/20)

Boston Globe: 3 Boston Hospitals Reach $1 Million Settlement Over Patient Privacy In ABC Series
Three Boston teaching hospitals accused of compromising patient privacy by allowing television crews to film inside their facilities have settled their cases with the federal government. The Department of Health and Human Services’ civil rights office said Thursday that the hospitals will pay about $1 million total to settle the cases. Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Boston Medical Center invited ABC crews to film a documentary series in 2014 and 2015, without first obtaining authorization from patients, the government said. (Kowalczyk, 9/20)

The Washington Post: STDs Such As Syphilis And Gonorrhea Rising Rapidly In Maryland
The number of people with sexually transmitted diseases in Maryland is growing rapidly and many might not even know they are infected, fueling the spread. The rise in STDs is happening across the state and not just in trouble spots such as Baltimore, which has a history of high rates. The spread of syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia are of particular concern to public health officials and doctors, who say they are treating many more cases. (McDaniels, 9/20)

Nashville Tennessean: Health Care Sector Yields $47B For Nashville Economy
The Nashville health care sector's impact on the local economy contributes $46.7 billion annually, up 20 percent from three years ago. The findings are based on a report from the Nashville Health Care Council conducted by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. More than 500 health care companies operate in Nashville, along with nearly 380 professional services firms tied to the health care sector. The health care industry employs 273,000 local people from various sectors, including retail, trade, real estate and finance. The industry generates $92 billion in revenue. (McGee, 9/20)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: As Suicide Calls Rise, Louisiana Crisis Hotline Running Out Of Money 
On an average day in Louisiana, nearly 40 people pick up the phone and call 1-800-273-TALK, the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. For all but a handful of parishes, those calls are answered by the New Orleans-based nonprofit Via Link, where crisis intervention specialists have a singular goal: save the person on the end of the line. But as the demand grows with increased attention to the national hotline, Via Link leaders say they can no longer rely on private donations alone to cover the cost of answering those calls. If nothing changes, Via Link CEO LaVondra Dobbs said the agency will likely have to stop answering hotline calls in December – sending most of the roughly 1,100 monthly calls from Louisiana area codes currently routed to Via Link to a national backup center. (Bullington, 9/20)

Houston Chronicle: Toothless Texas Inmates Denied Dentures In State Prison
For the better part of four years, David Ford has not had much in the way of teeth. When he first came to state prison, the Houston man had just enough molars to hold in place his partial dentures. But then he lost one tooth to a prison fight and the rest to a dentist. Now, five years into his stay, Ford has no teeth at all — and no dentures. And, despite his best efforts and insistent requests, he’s been repeatedly denied them and told that teeth are not a medical necessity. (Blakinger, 9/20)

Seattle Times: Seattle’s Annual Free Medical Clinic A Lifeline For Underinsured Residents 
Some Puget Sound residents spent the night at Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavilion to beat the crowds Thursday for free medical care at a makeshift clinic. The clinic, set up inside Key Arena, started admitting patients at 6:30 a.m. Forty-five minutes later, it had already issued hundreds of admission tickets. Volunteers and funding from 135 medical-services providers, businesses and nonprofits have made it possible for the four-day event to be held for a fifth year. (Pacheco-Flores, 9/20)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Low-Income, All Medicare Seniors In Cleveland Will Have New Primary Care Option
A company providing primary care to low-income seniors soon will open three health care centers in Cleveland. Chicago-based Oak Street Health plans to open three 9,000-square-foot community-based centers in the Glenville, West Boulevard and Lee-Harvard neighborhoods by the end of the year. The centers will serve those on Medicare. (Christ, 9/20)

The CT Mirror: Long-Time Access Health CT Director Appointed As New CEO
A long-time director at Access Health CT was named the new chief executive officer of the state’s health insurance exchange on Thursday. The exchange’s board of directors voted to appoint James Michel as the permanent CEO at its meeting at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. “I’m just very happy and proud to be leading this organization that’s doing very important work for the residents of Connecticut,” said Michel after the meeting. (Rigg, 9/20)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Fulfillment Center Hosts Camp Amazon
Amazon’s Sacramento fulfillment center hosted “Camp Amazon” on Wednesday, an event to raise awareness for childhood cancer. Six local children who have been diagnosed with cancer and are interested in science, math and technology were invited to tour the Amazon facility near Tahoe Park, according to a press release. (Darden, 9/19)

The Star Tribune: At Children's Minnesota Hospitals, A Shot At Reducing Needle Pain 
For every child who has squirmed and cried over a shot or a blood draw — and every parent who has stood by helplessly — doctors at Children’s Minnesota hospitals are reporting success in a campaign to eliminate needle pain. Strategies such as numbing cream, soothing blankets and visual distractions were rolled out in 2013 on the inpatient floors of Children’s hospitals in Minneapolis and St. Paul. They proved so effective that doctors extended them to the emergency room and, most recently, to all outpatient clinics. (Olson, 9/21)

San Jose Mercury News: San Jose Artist Loses Drawings, Gets Help From Cancer Survivor
It was police dispatcher Tiffany Holseberg’s first week back at work following a medical leave for cancer treatments when she answered the department’s non-emergency line and spoke with an 89-year-old artist desperate for help. Jim Campbell explained how on Sept. 7 he made the mistake of driving to a San Jose post office with a box of his original pen-and-ink drawings on the roof of his SUV. Campbell, who lives in Willow Glen, believes the box flew off the car somewhere on Hillsdale Avenue. (Gomez, 9/20)

KCUR: A Fresh Set Of Sheets For Sex Assault Victims, Courtesy Of Kansas City Police 
Reporting a sex assault to police is unquestionably traumatic. Victims undergo an invasive medical exam. Police ask sensitive questions. Then, when victims get home, sometimes they have no sheets. That's because police take clothing and fabric from the scene of the crime for DNA analysis. And while a victim is likely to have multiple items of clothing, he or she may not have an extra set of bed sheets. So Kansas City Police Crime Scene Technician Marisa Smith had an idea: Why not leave a fresh set of sheets for victims to find when they get home? (Haxel, 9/20)

Health News Florida: Miami Opens First Permanent Public Toilet In Downtown
People experiencing homelessness in Miami now have access to a new bathroom after the city  opened on Wednesday its first permanent toilet in Downtown. The sleek restroom near the West Flagler street Metrorail station will be open 12 hours a day and features a sink and needle disposal area. Modelled off stand-alone toilets in Portland, Oregon, it runs on solar power and looks like a booth with steel panels. (Turken, 9/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Whole Foods To Pay $1.64 Million To Settle Hazardous Waste Claims With California Cities
Whole Foods Market will pay $1.64 million to settle claims by 21 cities and counties in California that its stores improperly handled and disposed of hazardous wastes. (Egelko, 9/20)

Boston Globe: Marijuana Stores Unlikely To Open Until Late October Or November
Recreational marijuana stores in Massachusetts are unlikely to open until the end of October or even later, after the state’s Cannabis Control Commission on Thursday failed to issue final licenses as hoped. Commission chairman Steve Hoffman told reporters two weeks ago that representatives of several pot firms with provisional licenses had indicated their facilities were ready to be inspected — a key step before opening for sales — and could be handed final licenses Thursday. That didn’t happen, Hoffman said, because the agency “just didn’t get peoples’ requests [for inspections] in time.” (Adams, 9/20)