State Highlights: Conn. Group Homes Fail To Report Injuries; Maine’s Midwifery License Drive; Ariz. Reports Measles Cases

ProPublica: For Many of Connecticut’s Disabled, Home Is Where the Harm Is
Group home workers are required by law to report all injuries and signs of abuse or neglect to a state social services agency. In Connecticut, the Department of Developmental Services is then supposed to pass on particularly alarming reports— those of severe injury or that might suggest abuse at the hands of staff— to an independent state agency called the Office of Protection and Advocacy, which employs specially trained investigators. But the federal investigation found that Connecticut’s oversight system failed at almost every level. (Sapien, 5/27)

The Associated Press: New Maine Midwifery Rules Reflect Licensure Drive Around US
Maine's midwives will face a new set of rules designed to make homebirth safer as a result of a bill that reflects changes to the profession around the country. ... The changes come as out-of-hospital births are increasingly popular in Maine and throughout the country. The rate of out-of-hospital births in Maine nearly doubled between 2000 and 2013; nationwide, it grew 29 percent between 2004 and 2009. The new rules emerge as midwives in many states are becoming increasingly integrated into mainstream health care, and some see state licensure as the path to further accomplish that. (Whittle, 5/29)

The Associated Press: Health Officials Now Confirm 11 Cases Of Measles In Arizona
An outbreak of measles that began with an inmate at a federal detention center for immigrants in central Arizona has now grown to 11 confirmed cases, officials said Monday. Seven of those infected are inmates at the Eloy Detention Center, and four are workers at the facility, Pinal County Health Services spokesman Joe Pyritz said. The privately-run facility has stopped accepting new detainees or releasing those currently held there. State and county health officials said they’re working to stop new transmissions by isolating patients, vaccinating people detained in the privately-run facility and trying to identify people who were at locations the four infected workers visited. (5/30)

The Arizona Republic: 11 Measles Cases Confirmed: What You Need To Know About The Outbreak
Arizona health officials Monday announced another case of measles — bringing the total to 11 cases — and warned of more than one dozen places in Pinal and Maricopa counties where the public may have been exposed to the disease. (Gomez, 5/30)

The Star Tribune: Minn. Mental Health System Gets $48 Million In New Funding, Defying National Trend
In a session derided for inaction and partisan squabbling, lawmakers once again came together on a bipartisan basis to approve proposals aimed at easing chronic bottlenecks in the state-funded mental health system and increasing the availability of crisis services in the community. All told, the 2016 Legislature approved about $48 million in new investments through next June — far less than sought by Gov. Mark Dayton, but still seen as a considerable victory given the Legislature’s 11th-hour failure to pass a monumental bonding bill. (Serres, 5/30)

Modern Healthcare: As Phoenix Booms, Healthcare Systems Revamp To Catch Up
The metro area here is booming. Once-sleepy neighborhoods are seeing real estate bidding wars. New housing developments are appearing where there once was nothing. Against that backdrop, healthcare in Phoenix is reorganizing as systems compete for patients and the doctors who refer them. (Kutscher, 5/28)

Kaiser Health News: California’s Glaring Shortage Of School Nurses
California falls significantly short of a new recommendation by an influential group of pediatricians calling for every school in the United States to have at least one nurse on site. Fifty-seven percent of California's public school districts, with 1.2 million students, do not employ nurses, according to research from Sacramento State University’s School of Nursing. The call for a nurse in every school appeared this week in a policy statement by the Illinois-based American Academy of Pediatrics. The group’s new guideline replaces its previous one, which recommended that school districts have one nurse for every 750 healthy students, and one for every 225 students who need daily assistance. (Ibarra, 5/31)

Pioneer Press: Minnesota Agencies Warn About Potential For Toxic Blue-Green Algae
With summer at hand and higher temperatures causing blooms to occur earlier this year, the Minnesota Department of Health is advising people to be mindful of water-borne health risks. Last year, health officials investigated two cases of human illness linked to blue-green algae, state epidemiologist Stephanie Gretsch said. The agency also confirmed two reports of blue-green algae deaths in dogs in 2015 and three in 2014. (5/31)

The Sacramento Bee: UC Davis Dermatologist Offers Skin Care For People Of All Tones
April Reding started finding painful, walnut-sized boils on her armpits and in her groin during her teenage years, an outbreak that stressed her out and made it difficult to sleep. Dermatologists gave her confusing diagnoses and ineffective treatments as the lesions continued to grow and burst. That ended when Reding, now 34, started seeing Dr. Oma Agbai, a UC Davis dermatologist who specializes in patients with non-white skin tones. Agbai was able to identify the rare chronic condition hidradenitis suppurativa, which is found more commonly in African American women. She came up with an aggressive treatment plan that includes steroid injections and a new pill prescription called Accutane. (Caiola, 5/30)

The Dallas Morning News: Dallas Paramedics Make House Calls, But Not Much Money (Yet)
Dallas paramedics are making plenty of house calls, but they’re not making much money for the city. Officials started the Mobile Community Healthcare program last year with the hope that that it could pay for itself using fees from hospitals that want to alleviate the burden on their emergency rooms. But records obtained by The Dallas Morning News show that the program is off to a slow start. (Hallman, 5/30)

The Columbus Dispatch: Hannah Neil's Legacy Continues With Revamped Behavioral Health Program
Her 12-year-old daughter was acting out in school, so she found the girl a therapist through a center that opened earlier this year on the city's South Side. But she didn't stop there. Annette Arriaga soon realized that her daughter wasn't the only one in the family who needed help. (Kurtzman, 5/30)

Miami Herald: ‘Give Her A Chance’: They Did, And She’s Really Made The Grade, Despite Disabilities
Linda Rinaldi recalls facing a roomful of experts from Miami-Dade Public Schools — therapists, psychologists, a teacher and school principal. They had spent the year testing and tracking Rinaldi’s daughter, Raffaella — a preschooler with a host of disabilities. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t make eye contact. She wore diapers and was fed from a stomach tube. (Veiga, 5/31)