State Highlights: North Carolina Nursing Homes Slow To Tap Into Long-Term Care Improvement Funds, Advocates Say; Union In NYC Pushes For Better Maternity Care
Media outlets report on news from North Carolina, New York, Alaska, California, Florida, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Mississippi, Arizona, Missouri, Massachusetts and Virginia.
North Carolina Health News:
Despite Increased Pace Of Grants, NC Nursing Homes Risk Losing Out On Penalty Dollars
Millions in fines collected from poorly performing nursing homes across the country must by law be spent to improve conditions for long-term care residents. And according to federal regulators, in North Carolina and other states have to spend the money they receive in those fines — or risk losing it. North Carolina’s accumulation of fines has grown to $31.5 million by July 31 — from $28.9 million since the start of 2019 — even as state officials and others have pushed to increase the number of grants it sends to nursing homes. (Goldsmith, 8/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
New York City Union Uses Its Size To Leverage Improved Maternity Care
In a bid to provide better health outcomes for pregnant women and reduce health care costs, one of New York City’s largest unions is pushing local hospital systems to create specialty maternity-care networks. This week, the health fund of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union will request that area hospital systems provide information on rates of maternal harm and apply to a newly created program promising higher quality, higher value care. (West, 8/19)
Reuters:
Alaska Governor Reverses Course On Controversial Budget Cuts
Alaska's governor signed a budget bill on Monday rolling back most of the deep, highly controversial spending cuts he imposed weeks ago on the University of Alaska but rebuffed a renewed bid by lawmakers to restore funding he slashed from health programs. The partial funding restoration marked the latest in a pitched budget battle between Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican serving his first year in office, and a bipartisan coalition in the Republican-dominated state legislature. (8/19)
Orange County Register:
Tustin Woman Is 1st Human Case Of West Nile Virus In Orange County In 2019
A female resident of Tustin, in her 50s, is the first human case of West Nile virus reported in Orange County this year, the Orange County Health Care Agency announced Monday, Aug. 19. Last year, the virus affected 12 people in the county and resulted in one death, according to the Health Care Agency. The first human case reported in 2018 also was a Tustin woman. (Truong, 8/19)
Health News Florida:
Nursing Board Signs Off On ‘Anesthesiologist’ Title
John McDonough, an advanced practice registered nurse, has for years identified as a “nurse anesthesiologist,” and he tells his patients the same. Now he can do it with the blessing of the Florida Board of Nursing, which at a meeting last week in Fort Myers unanimously agreed to allow McDonough, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, to officially use the anesthesiologist title. (Sexton, 8/19)
The Associated Press:
Nebraska Moves All Girls Out Of Facility For Troubled Youth
Nebraska officials are moving 24 teenage girls out of a state-run facility for female juvenile offenders after learning that many were confined to buildings with fire hazards, holes in the wall and mold and water damage. The Department of Health and Human Services announced the move Monday after some state lawmakers voiced concerns about the conditions and a lack of staff and programming at the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center in Geneva. (Schulte, 8/19)
New Hampshire Union Leader:
Catholic Medical Center Opens Wilson Street Integrated Health
Catholic Medical Center has opened a new location at the Manchester Recovery and Treatment Center. Wilson Street Integrated Health is a service of the Health Care for the Homeless Program of Manchester, a collaboration between CMC and the Manchester Health Department. The new practice offers primary care, social work, counseling and medication-assisted treatment to those who receive other services at the Center, as well as clients in the area. (8/19)
ProPublica:
Inside The Prison Where Inmates Set Each Other On Fire And Gangs Have More Power Than Guards
Jeffery Wilemon clutched his gut, throbbing in pain as he lay on his bed inside the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in April. But there was no way for him to cry out — not unless he wanted another beating. Hours earlier, inmates had slugged the 54-year-old and declared that he needed to “follow the rules” their gang had set for prison life, he later wrote in a handwritten pleading filed in Itawamba County Circuit Court. (Mitchell, 8/19)
Arizona Republic:
Arizona State Revealed Students' Email Addresses In Health Privacy Breach
Arizona State University inadvertently exposed the email addresses of thousands of students in what is considered a breach of federal health privacy law. The university notified 4,000 students on Friday that their email addresses were "accidentally revealed" in late July, the university said. (Leingang, 8/19)
The Associated Press:
Wildfire Acreage Way Down In California This Year — So Far
California is not burning. At least not as much as it has in recent years. Acreage burned through Sunday is down 90% compared to the average over the past five years and down 95% from last year, according to statistics from the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The stats are good news for a state that has seen terrifyingly destructive and deadly blazes the past two years, but the worst of those fires occurred in the fall. (8/19)
St. Louis Public Radio:
Applications For Medical Marijuana Facilities Pour In At Deadline
With the deadline to submit an application for a medical marijuana business closed, more than 2,100 were received, bringing in more than $5.3 million in fees, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. On Thursday, the department announced it would extend the deadline to Monday at 4:30 p.m. Initially the cutoff was Saturday at midnight, but with a slow start early in the application period, the department expected an influx toward the end. (Driscoll, 8/19)
Miami Herald:
Study Says Not Enough Data To Prove Taxing Pot Is Smart
A petition to put legal weed on the ballot in 2020 has triggered a Supreme Court review, a recent Quinnipiac University poll shows 65 percent of Florida voters support fully legalizing the drug and bill proposals are pitching legalization as a potential boon for Florida’s tourism economy, a step toward criminal justice reform and a way to boost local businesses in periphery markets.One of the key selling points? Taxes. (Gross, 8/19)
WBUR:
MA Probation Commissioner Joins National Effort To Reform Court-Ordered Supervision
Dozens of parole and probation leaders around the country are joining forces to try to improve the policies that govern the supervision of about 4.5 million people. The officials say too many people end up incarcerated for relatively minor technical probation and parole violations, such as missing curfew, rather than for criminal behavior. (Becker, 8/19)
Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Labor Law: FMLA May Allow An Employee To Attend Certain School Meetings For A Child With Serious Health Condition
If a health care provider certifies that a child suffers from a serious health condition, the child’s parent is entitled to up to 12 workweeks of job-protected, unpaid FMLA leave per year to care for the child of the employee. An employee may use FMLA leave intermittently (for instance, one hour at a time) or on a reduced leave schedule when medically necessary because of a family member’s serious health condition. The Labor Department opined that the wife’s attendance at the IEP meetings was a qualifying reason for leave because the FMLA includes a provision “to make arrangements for changes in care” as a qualifying reason. (Michael, 8/19)
Kansas City Star:
Clay County Can’t Pay Jail Bills, Sheriff Blames Retaliation
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office has run out of money and can’t pay its bills to provide health care and food for roughly 300 inmates at its jail, thanks to a budget process that it claims deliberately underfunded the county’s detention center, officials said at a trial on Monday. A judge heard arguments Monday from top-ranking county and sheriff’s officials stemming from a lawsuit filed earlier this year in which Clay County Sheriff Paul Vescovo is requesting an order that the Clay County Commission adequately fund his office. (Vockrodt, 8/19)
