Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Legal Fight Over Maine Hotels Used To House Homeless People
Bangor Daily News: Bangor Motel Wants Judge To Say Whether It Has To Accept Homeless Guests Using Vouchers
A Bangor motel wants a judge to decide whether it has to take in homeless guests paying for their rooms with city-issued vouchers. The Travelodge on Odlin Road filed a lawsuit earlier this month in Penobscot County Superior Court after it received a notice from a legal aid group saying it and other motels had violated the Maine Human Rights Act when they turned away homeless guests with housing vouchers. (2/28)
AP: Two Hotels To Stop Housing Homeless Following Complaints
Two hotels in Maine will stop hosting hundreds of people experiencing homelessness because of complaints from neighboring businesses. The Days Inn and Comfort Inn near the Maine Mall in South Portland will not renew its contract with MaineHousing to provide emergency shelter when it expires May 31, the Portland Press Herald reports. Suresh Gali, head of New Gen Hospitality Management that operates the hotels, made the announcement at a meeting Friday, according to the newspaper. (2/26)
Billings Gazette: Severe Frostbite In Billings Homeless Follows Record-Breaking Cold
The record-breaking cold that settled over Billings this week is the kind of cold that can freeze bare skin in minutes. And for those experiencing homelessness, frostbite and hypothermia are a major concern. By Wednesday, temperatures dropped to minus 21 at the airport and minus 26 on the West End of Billings. The high for the day was minus 3. (Schabacker, 2/26)
Albuquerque Journal: City's Gateway Center To Open For Women Only
When the city of Albuquerque’s years-in-the-making homeless shelter finally opens, it will cater exclusively to women – and it will maintain that focus for the undetermined future. The city has decided to launch the Gateway Center in Southeast Albuquerque with 50 beds for women. While officials have in the past described the Gateway as a 24/7 operation to aid anyone regardless of gender, religion or sobriety, they say starting exclusively with women makes the most sense from a resources perspective. (Dyer, 2/28)
Billings Gazette: Patients Find Care At Home With New St. V's Cardiac Program
Debbie Ettleman is one of the first patients at St. Vincent Healthcare to receive a full-support heart pump that just a month ago would have required her to fly to a major city. When patients’ hearts are weak, surgeons attach the device to replace function of the left side of the heart – allowing those muscles to completely rest, said Dr. Simon Maltais, a cardiac surgeon recently hired at SCL Health. (Ackerman, 2/26)
Des Moines Register: Polk Residents To Get $35M In Unspent Iowa Rental Assistance Funds
Polk County residents will soon be able to apply for another $35 million in pandemic-related rental assistance after some prodding of the U.S. Treasury Department by U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne. Axne, D-Iowa, announced Friday that the Treasury had approved the reallocation of the federal funds from the state of Iowa to Polk County after she wrote a letter earlier this month to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. (Rood, 2/25)
The Baltimore Sun: An Emergency Room Trip Almost Canceled A Baltimore Couple’s Wedding. But Ascension St. Agnes Hospital Nurses Made It Happen.
Tony and Neunutae Bell had been counting down the days until their wedding. After getting engaged three years ago and waiting for COVID-19 cases to wane, the couple realized this past Thanksgiving that a rare date would be coming up: Feb. 22, 2022. It’s a palindrome day, which is a number or word that can be read the same way forward and backward — and it was a Tuesday. Such a “Twosday” won’t happen again for 400 years. But a few days before the planned courthouse nuptials, Tony found himself in the emergency department at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital. The Baltimore couple was ready to call off the wedding. But once Erynn Bossom, a nurse manager on the neurology and stroke floor found out, she started to put a plan into motion. (Oxenden, 2/28)
