Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Allegations Of Sexual Abuse, Neglect Of Children In State Care Surface At Psychiatric Hospital In Chicago
ProPublica: Chicago Lakeshore Hospital Is Under Fire Over Reports Alleging Abuse of Children
A Chicago psychiatric hospital that treats hundreds of children in state care is under federal and state investigation over safety concerns and alleged sexual assaults, and it may be forced to close if it can’t correct deficiencies. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has investigated 16 allegations of abuse and neglect this year at the Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital in the city’s Uptown community, including allegations that children were raped and sexually abused by staff and other patients, physically assaulted and inadequately supervised, a ProPublica Illinois investigation found. (Eldeib, 10/31)
ProPublica and Houston Chronicle: Federal Inspectors Cite St. Luke’s In Houston For Problems In A Heart Transplant
The federal government has cited Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston for not having working defibrillator paddles in the operating room during a January heart transplant. The transplant ultimately failed, and the patient died two months later. During a review this month, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that “there were not sufficient quantities of emergency equipment (internal defibrillator paddles) immediately available during cardiac (open chest) surgery,” according to a copy of the report provided by the agency at the request of ProPublica and the Houston Chronicle. (Ornstein and Hixenbaugh, 10/31)
The Associated Press: Rural Virginia County Hopes, After Years, To Reopen Hospital
There was nowhere local to go for care because Lee County's only hospital, about a mile down the road from where McElyea fell ill, abruptly shut its doors in 2013. In the five years since, local community leaders have been fighting to reopen the facility, and after a series of fits and starts, it looked for much of this year like that might happen thanks to a deal with a startup company. But financial challenges the company acknowledges it's been working through have thrown the plan into question at the last minute, officials say. It's a story that illustrates the herculean task of trying to revive a shuttered rural hospital and the harsh realities of disparate access to health care in many parts of America. (Rankin, 10/31)
Arizona Republic: Banner Health Opening Hospital Tower As Part Of $417 Million Project
Banner Health recently invested more than $1 billion into academic medicine construction projects in Arizona and the biggest of those undertakings — a 16-story hospital tower in Phoenix — opens Tuesday. The 372,476 square-foot tower is part of a $417.9 million upgrade at Banner-University Medical Center Phoenix, 1111 E. McDowell Road. (Innes, 10/31)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Piedmont Healthcare Reaches Surgical Milestone
Piedmont Healthcare’s Minimally Invasive & Robotic Surgery Program recently celebrated its 15,000th robotic surgery, according to a press release. That’s a milestone for the program that is one of only a handful of large volume robotic programs in the country and that also ranks in the top 20 percent globally in the number of robotic procedures it performs, according to the release. (Miller, 10/31)
