Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Maryland Hospital Workers Rally, Say They're Being Denied Covid Pay
The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Hospital Workers Rally Outside Psychiatric Facility For COVID Pay
Chants of “respect the worker’s voice” and “ho-ho, hey-hey, we deserve response pay!” echoed Wednesday afternoon around the campus of Spring Grove Hospital Center, a state psychiatric facility in Catonsville. Spring Grove hospital workers, including dietary and maintenance staff, gathered outside the central kitchen to rally for COVID-19 response pay — extra salary given to Maryland’s front-line state employees. (Lawrence, 6/23)
NPR: A Shortage Of Mental Health Treatment Beds Can Trap Kids In Crisis Inside ERs
Emergency rooms are not typically places you check in for the night. If you break an arm, it gets set, and you leave. If you have a heart attack, you won't wait long for a hospital bed. But sometimes if your brain is not well, and you end up in an ER, there's a good chance you will get stuck there. Parents and advocates for kids' mental health say the ER can't provide appropriate care and that the warehousing of kids in crisis can become an emergency itself. What's known as emergency room boarding of psychiatric patients has risen between 200% and 400% monthly in Massachusetts during the pandemic. The CDC says emergency room visits after suicide attempts among teen girls were up 51% earlier this year as compared to 2019. There are no current nationwide mental health boarding numbers. (Bebinger, 6/23)
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San Francisco Chronicle: More Medical Calls In S.F. Can Mean Longer Waits For Ambulances. Here's How City Aims To Fix It
San Francisco doesn’t always have enough ambulances for medical calls, with a backlog of up to six calls at times. That means an ambulance has been requested but isn’t immediately available. Though paramedics are already at the scene delivering potentially life-saving care, and each delayed request may be resolved in minutes or even seconds, it can delay transport to a hospital in situations where each minute could matter. While medical calls have grown nearly 16% since 2015, the number of ambulance personnel has remained at 200, according to a Fire Department memo. The impacts of more calls can be increased wait times for patients to get ambulances in outlying areas and reliance on overtime to meet staffing needs, the memo said. (Moench, 6/23)
AP: Tennessee Doctor Pleads Guilty In Opioid Overdose Death
A Tennessee doctor has pleaded guilty to causing the overdose death of a patient by illegally prescribing the painkiller hydrocodone, federal prosecutors said. Thomas K. Ballard III faces 20 years in prison under a plea agreement, the U.S. attorney’s office in Memphis said Wednesday. Sentencing is set for Sept. 21. Ballard was one of 53 medical professionals in the U.S. who were indicted in April 2019 on federal charges related to the illegal prescribing of painkillers. (6/24)
AP: Ex-West Virginia Cabinet Secretary Named Hospital Chief
A former cabinet secretary in West Virginia has been named president and CEO of Princeton Community Hospital. Karen Bowling currently serves as West Virginia University Health System’s executive vice president of government affairs, as well as president and CEO of WVU Medicine’s Braxton County Memorial Health System and Summersville Regional Medical Center. (6/24)
