State Highlights: Minnesota Hospital Launches Clinic To Treat Special Needs Of Transgender Youth; N.H. Governor Pushes For Psych Hospital Funds
Media outlets report on news from Minnesota, New Hampshire, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Georgia, Florida and Ohio.
The Star Tribune:
Children's Minnesota Opens Clinic For Transgender Youth
The complex medical and psychological needs of transgender and gender-diverse youth have prompted Children's Minnesota to launch a clinic to provide more timely treatment and information to children and their parents. While almost 3 percent of Minnesota's high school students identify as gender diverse, this group of children often doesn't know where to turn when they first have questions, said Dr. Angela Kade Goepferd, medical director of the clinic, which started scheduling appointments Tuesday and will open to patients on April 22. (Olson, 4/2)
New Hampshire Public Radio:
Sununu Urges Lawmakers To Include Funding For New Secure Psychiatric Unit
Governor Chris Sununu got a standing ovation during his budget address in February when he promised to build a new forensic hospital outside the walls of the state prison. The facility would treat people with mental illness who are considered dangerous to themselves or others. (Rogers, 4/2)
California Healthline:
Finding Homeless Patients A Place To Heal
After they amputated the second toe on John Trumbla’s right foot last summer, doctors sent him to a nursing home because he still needed medical care — but not necessarily a hospital bed. The proud, burly Army veteran resisted at first, but he didn’t have a choice. Before his hospitalization at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Trumbla, 56, and his wife had been homeless, crashing in his boss’s construction shop or living out of their station wagon. (Ibarra, 4/2)
Austin American-Statesman:
Vaccine Advocates Push For Policies To Strengthen Texas Immunization Rates
Several lawmakers spoke, including Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, Rep. Sarah Davis, R-Houston, Rep. J.D. Sheffield, R-Gatesville, and Rep. Michelle Beckley, D-Carrollton, whose vaccine-related amendment was approved last week as part of the state budget. It will require the Texas Department of State Health Services to assess the immunization rates at child care centers, which has not done for several years (Huber, 4/2)
KQED:
Childhood Poverty: California's 'Moral Outrage'
Poverty has long been a political football, and the current polarized climate lays bare the tussle. At one end, child poverty has been called a “moral outrage” by California’s progressive governor, Gavin Newsom, who has vowed to end it. At the other end of the political spectrum, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has said poverty is a “state of mind,” echoing the Trump administration position that government aid is not the answer. (Fernandes, 4/3)
The Philadelphia Inquire:
ER Doctors At Philly-Area Hospitals Quietly Win Back-Pay Dispute With Prime Healthcare
In early February, the group reached an agreement with Prime, netting the salaries they were owed — collectively more than $200,000 — as well as malpractice insurance and legal fees, according to O’Malley and two others privy to the settlement’s details who discussed the outcome for the first time publicly this week. One doctor, who had been fired by Prime, was excluded from the settlement and is mulling legal action. (Vella, 4/2)
Kansas City Star:
JoCo Doc Sues Kansas Medical Board Over Suspended License
A doctor who runs three Kansas anti-aging clinics, including one in Leawood, is suing the Kansas medical board for issuing an emergency suspension of his license before giving him a full hearing. It is the second such sanction by the Kansas medical board for Michael Reed Simmons, whose state license was temporarily suspended in 2002 because he had sexual relationships with patients and a co-worker. (Marso, 4/2)
Georgia Health News:
‘A Big Health Care Year’ Under The Gold Dome
An attempt to allow a sports medicine and training center in Alpharetta failed to clear the House Rules Committee on Tuesday. The proposed Legacy Sports Institute, endorsed by many sports VIPs, was included in some initial certificate-of-need (CON) bills, but ran into roadblocks along its legislative journey. (Miller, 4/3)
Health News Service of Florida:
New FL Surgeon General Faced Harassment Allegations At UF
The doctor tapped by Gov. Ron DeSantis to become the state’s surgeon general has been embroiled in legal squabbles and investigations while working at the University of Florida. Scott Rivkees has been the subject of a university sexual harassment investigation, was found by a university auditor to have not properly filed financial-disclosure information and has sued a onetime colleague for libel and slander. (Sexton, 4/2)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Inmate Files Lawsuit Over Cuyahoga County Jail Conditions
A Cuyahoga County Jail inmate said in a lawsuit that inhumane jail conditions and treatment by corrections officers exacerbated his mental health issues. Andre Jenkins, of Cleveland, wrote in a lawsuit filed Monday that he was denied his mental health medication on Nov. 30. Jenkins said a corrections officer repeatedly denied his request for help and that “I started to act out in fear due to anxiety, and my P.T.S.D.” due to not receiving his medication, the lawsuit says. (Heisig, 4/2)
San Jose Mercury News:
New Bill Would Require Colleges To Let Homeless Students Park Overnight
While acknowledging the state’s long-term need for more affordable housing, the assemblyman said homeless students need help right now. In 2016, the state passed a law requiring the colleges to give homeless students access to campus shower facilities. (Deruy, 4/2)
