Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
KTVH: St. Peter's Health: 'We Are In Crisis Standards Of Care'
Under crisis care, hospital staff may be forced to evaluate patients on survivability and will move resources to patients that have a better chance of survival. (9/16)
Montana Public Radio: Montana Health Officials Announce Drug Treatment Pilot Program
A nearly $1 million federal grant has allowed the state to contract with six providers that could provide treatment to over 400 Montanans over the next two years. (Bolton, 9/15)
Montana State News Bureau: Hospitals Warn Of Need For Crisis Care If Covid Cases Don't Slow
Bozeman Health is the second to announce the possibility of adopting crisis care standards, following Billings Clinic, one of the state’s biggest facilities in its most-populated community. (Michels, 9/15)
The Western News: Latest Covid Surge In Libby Nursing Home Leaves At Least 10 Dead
At least 10 Libby Care Center residents died due to complications related to covid-19 after the coronavirus spread through the local nursing home last month. (Langhorne, 9/14)
Billings Gazette: Billings Clinic Considering 'Crisis Standards Of Care'
The ICU at Montana's largest hospital was at 150% capacity and the National Guard called in to assist. If crisis standards of care are implemented, a triage team of nurses and physicians will decide how to allocate resources. (Etherington, 9/15)
AP: National Guard To Help Billings Hospital With Covid Cases
Ten soldiers will help at Billings Clinic as the hospital faces capacity and staffing challenges with the latest covid surge. Another seven soldiers will help the state lab and warehouse in Helena. (9/14)
KBZK: Bozeman Health Prepping Surge Plan Due To Covid Cases
The hospital's critical care unit is at capacity, a spokesperson said Wednesday. All 20 beds are full, with 16 of them filled by covid-positive patients. (9/15)
KPAX: Missoula County Ties Record For Covid-19 Hospitalizations
The number of people hospitalized in Missoula County due to covid was 43, tying the record high set on Nov. 7. St. Patrick Hospital says covid patients are being triaged in the ambulance bay. (9/15)
Montana State News Bureau: Prison Tallies 33 New Covid Cases Among Inmates, Staff
Department of Corrections spokesperson Carolynn Bright says infected inmates have been isolated and staff have been told to go home and isolate. (Larson, 9/15)
Yellowstone Public Radio: Certain Schools Go Remote Due To Rising Covid Cases
Great Falls joins a cluster of other schools that have closed some or all in-person classes due to covid-19 cases, including schools in Park and Yellowstone counties, Eureka Elementary School, Plains High School and Rocky Boy Schools. (DeRoches, 9/13)
Montana Free Press: Montana Hospitals, Unions Grapple With Biden’s New Vaccine Mandate
There were 411 employers in Montana with more than 100 workers who would fall under the OSHA rule, according to 2019 data. Those employers had 99,564 Montanans on their payrolls. (Eggert, 9/13)
AP: State Attorney General Promises Court Challenge Of Federal Vaccine Mandate
Attorney General Austin Knudsen joined Gov. Greg Gianforte in calling the new mandate unconstitutional. Several other Republican governors have also questioned the legality of the mandate. (Samuels, 9/10)
Montana Free Press: What Does The Science Really Say About Masking?
An emergency rule issued by the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services has intensified debate over face mask requirements for public school students in recent weeks, generating contradictory claims about the science regarding mask wearing. (Sarkariassen, 9/14)
Montana Standard: Memorial Held For The 90 Butte-Silver Bow Residents Who Died From Covid
Eyes filled with tears as those in attendance stretched their hands outward in prayer. The memorial was for some the first chance to gather and celebrate the lives of those they lost with others. (Cast, 9/9)
Bozeman Daily Chronicle: City Of Bozeman Offers Vaccine Incentive, Lottery For $1,000
The program is being funded with American Rescue Plan Act money allocated to Bozeman. City spokesperson Melody Mileur said the total price tag depends on how many people claim a $25 gift card the city is offering those who get vaccinated between Sept. 15 and Nov. 15. (Shelly, 9/15)
Montana Free Press: Montana Public Health Director Presents Agency Overhaul
Adam Meier will combine the Addictive and Mental Disorders Division with the Developmental Services Division, creating a new unit responsible for behavioral health and developmental disabilities. He will also hire a new employee to oversee state-run health facilities including the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs and the Montana Chemical Dependency Center in Butte. (Silvers, 9/15)
Montana Free Press: State Revises Marijuana Advertising Rules
Under the new rules, dispensaries will be able to promote their business via advertising and market their brand. However, dispensaries may not specifically advertise marijuana products except in online ads. The state has also eliminated what some dispensary owners believe was a burdensome set of rules that would have required dispensaries and other marijuana-related businesses to display a lengthy warning about the drug. (Franz, 9/10)
Daily Montanan: Survey: Youth Depression High, Cigarette Smoking Low
Roughly 30% to 50% of high school students in most Montana counties felt so hopeless, they didn’t do normal activities for at least a couple of weeks in the 12 months prior to a spring survey, according to the survey administered by state education officials. (Szpaller, 9/13)
Billings Gazette: Billings Places 90-Day Moratorium On New Pot Businesses As It Crafts More Permanent Regulations
The temporary hold on issuing any licenses or permissions means new marijuana businesses will have to wait until December to start working with the city. Meanwhile city officials are drafting regulations to manage how recreational marijuana is sold in Billings starting Jan 1. (Rogers, 9/14))
Daily Montanan: Cremation Rates Up, Montana Rates Beat National Average
Montana State University Extension, which produces fact sheets on topics from freezing fruit to family financial decisions, recently released a new one about cremation. Last year, 79% of the people who died in Montana were cremated, compared to 56% nationally. (Szpaller, 9/10)
Flathead Beacon: Flathead Livestock Stores Report Increased Interest In Ivermectin
Logan Health has received multiple emergency admissions with evidence of toxicity, leading doctors to suspect misuse of the drug. (Lucas, 9/13)
