State Highlights: Child Welfare Reforms Underway In Illinois, Connecticut But Problems Persist; Minnesota Officials Report More Possible Lung Disease Cases

The Washington Post: Embattled Illinois Welfare Agency Praised For Training Lab
The troubling scene inside the dingy Chicago apartment seems real: dangling exposed wires, open pill bottles near a sleeping baby and a kitchen strewn with dog feces and cockroaches. But the mock apartment — with a lifelike infant doll, candles emitting foul smells and plastic insects — is part of a new simulation lab to train workers who investigate child abuse claims across Illinois. “Sometimes textbooks, they sugarcoat things. Teachers sugarcoat things, but this is real life,” said Beth Brown of Murphysboro, who recently trained at the so-called “dirty apartment.” ‘’This is what you’re going to experience.” (Tareen, 8/23)

The CT Mirror: Federal Monitor's Report Reflects Continuing Concerns About DCF, But Progress Being Made
The latest report from the federal monitor overseeing the state Department of Children and Families shows that the agency is not complying with five of 10 key measures that are part of a court supervised plan to improve services for children in its care. Despite this, a lawyer for the plaintiffs expressed optimism that the 30-year-old case will be closed in the next few years because the agency has been making progress, particularly in its hiring and caseload goals, even though it did not reach target levels during the period covered by the report. (Megan, 8/23)

The Star Tribune: Minnesota Reports 11 New Lung Injury Cases Linked To Vaping 
As many as 15 teenagers or young adults have now been hospitalized in Minnesota for severe lung injuries associated with vaping or e-cigarette use, the state Health Department said in an update Thursday. The department reported 11 new presumptive cases, on top of the four confirmed cases that were detected at Children’s hospitals in the Twin Cities in recent weeks. (Olson, 8/22)

North Carolina Health News: State Unveils Long-Awaited Psychiatric Hospital In Morganton
Health officials showered accolades on the state health department’s newest psychiatric facility at an outdoor ribbon-cutting ceremony in Morganton on Wednesday. Officials touted the new Broughton Hospital’s roughly 477,000 square-feet structure’s sunny hallways, onsite pharmacy and dental clinic and bathrooms that offer patients a modicum of privacy. The red-brick structure’s debut came roughly five years late, as multiple construction delays derailed the $130 million project. (Engel-Smith, 8/23)

Detroit Free Press: University Of Michigan, St. Joseph Mercy Consider New Hospital
The University of Michigan is in talks with St. Joseph Mercy Health System to partner on a new hospital in Livingston County, the Free Press has learned. As part of the deal, Michigan Medicine would be a co-owner and minority partner in a plan to bring a new Catholic hospital to the Brighton/Howell area, according to internal emails obtained by the Free Press. The hospital would be governed by Trinity Health, a national Catholic health system that owns 92 hospitals in 22 states, including the St. Joseph Mercy System. (Shamus, 8/23)

California Healthline: Dialysis Industry Spends Big To Protect Profits
The dialysis industry spent about $2.5 million in California on lobbying and campaign contributions in the first half of this year in its ongoing battle to thwart regulation, according to a California Healthline analysis of campaign finance reports filed with the state. Last year, dialysis companies poured a record-breaking $111 million into a campaign to defeat a ballot initiative that would have capped their profits. (Rowan, 8/22)

The Advocate: In Baton Rouge Nurse's Death, Hospitalization Delays Lake Charles Man's Manslaughter Arraignment 
The arraignment for a Lake Charles man charged with manslaughter in the April death of a Baton Rouge General Medical Center nurse — the most serious of a series of attacks on health care personnel in Baton Rouge this year — was postponed Thursday after a judge was told the defendant was hospitalized. State District Judge Bonnie Jackson said she was advised by an East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputy that Jessie Wayne Guillory, 54, is on life support at a hospital. (Gyan, 8/22)

Miami Herald: Beaten And Isolated After A Seizure, A Florida Prisoner Sues
Dean Higgins is now suing the Florida Department of Corrections and the officers involved in the encounter, alleging cruel and unusual punishment, violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, use of excessive force and battery. It is the latest in a flurry of suits involving the prison system and inmates with disabilities, despite a lawsuit settlement two years back that purported to improve the treatment of prisoners with mental and physical frailties. (Penney, 8/22)

Nashville Tennessean: USDA Loan To Benefit Hope Family Health In Westmoreland
Hope Family Health will receive a $1.02 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help combat the opioid crisis as part of the USDA's $52 million investment that will benefit nearly 200,000 rural residents in 16 states. USDA Rural Housing Service Administrator Bruce Lammers announced Aug. 21 that the USDA's investment benefits 45 community facilities projects throughout the country. Rural Development State Director Jim Tracy announced that Tennessee will invest more than $1 million in loans and grants to two projects, one of them, being Hope Family Health. (Nixon, 8/22)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Medical Marijuana Use During Pregnancy Feared
Missouri’s medical marijuana program is still getting off the ground, but Lee’s Summit obstetrician and gynecologist Emily Gray has already had one patient tell her she wants to enroll. Gray wouldn’t sign the form the patient needs to submit, in part because her employer, Truman Medical Center, doesn’t allow it. But before the patient left to find a doctor who would, Gray made sure the woman, who had already had her baby, wasn’t breastfeeding. (Marso, 8/23)