State Highlights: D.C. Enlists Nurses in 911 Call Centers To Reduce Non-Emergency Load; Enacting Single-Payer ‘Will Take Years,’ Calif. Candidate Says

NPR: Nurses Help 911 Dispatchers Triage Calls
D.C. has the highest rate of 911 calls in the U.S., and one in four of those calls is not an actual emergency — instead, it's a twisted ankle, or a cough or a rash. The new triage program aims to improve those numbers by diverting needs that aren't urgent to medical care that doesn't involve an ambulance or an emergency room. (Simmons-Duffin, 4/19)

The Washington Post: Nurses Will Be In D.C.’s 911 Center In Latest Attempt To Cut Emergency Call Volume
Registered nurse Ogechi Ukachu spoke into a telephone headset at the District’s 911 center, fielding an emergency call from a woman complaining about wrist pain. Ukachu asked yes or no questions to determine the caller’s pain level, any blood loss and other symptoms that could pinpoint the extent of the injury. After about a dozen answers, Ukachu determined the woman needed a trip to an urgent-care center — not a ride in a D.C. ambulance. (Williams and Lang, 4/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: Single Payer Will Take Years To Implement In California, Gavin Newsom Says
Among California’s gubernatorial candidates, none has been a more exuberant supporter of transitioning to a single-payer, Medicare-for-all health care system than Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. So exuberant that the politically powerful California Nurses Association put his picture on its traveling campaign bus under the words, “Nurses Trust Newsom.” (Garofoli, 4/18)

Dallas Morning News: 'We Failed': Texas Social Services Czar Apologizes Profusely For Contract Flubs 
Gov. Greg Abbott's top appointee over social services profusely apologized to legislators Wednesday for his agency's failure to take care of the basics as it awards lucrative health-insurance and other contracts to private companies. On two recent contracts, bid evaluators and other officials at the Health and Human Services Commission botched their job of "tabulating scores, quality control and making sure that people obtain the appropriate approvals prior to moving forward" with a bid solicitation, Executive Commissioner Charles Smith told a legislative panel. (Garrett, 4/18)

Des Moines Register: Democrat McGuire Focuses On Health Care Access In First Television Ads
Andy McGuire, a physician and health care management executive, is the latest gubernatorial candidate to hit the airwaves, launching an ad highlighting her focus on expanding health care access across the state. "Let’s face it, we’ve got to tackle the mental health crisis head on," McGuire says in the 30-second spot, which shows her in a white physician's coat working with patients. "I’ve got a plan to do just that. Our health care system is broken. It’s time we fixed it." The campaign will air $19,600 worth of ads in Des Moines and $12,000 in Cedar Rapids, a spokeswoman said. The 30-second spot will air online and on television. (Pfannenstiel, 4/18)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: To Fully Fund TOPS, Here's What A Louisiana House Committee Cut 
The Louisiana House Appropriations Committee approved a state budget Monday (April 17) that fully funded the TOPS college scholarship, but would eliminate several critical health care services for thousands of people and jeopardizes medical schools and residency programs in the state, according to officials. Louisiana recently saw revenue projections for state government climb $346 million, thanks mostly to an increase in personal income taxes that resulted from new federal tax laws. (O'Donoghue, 4/18)

Houston Chronicle: Parents Of La Porte ISD Elementary Alerted After Meningitis Case
La Porte ISD authorities recently alerted parents of children attending Bayshore Elementary School that a prekindergarten student who attends the campus had been hospitalized for bacterial meningitis. District officials said that after the school was notified of the case on April 12, they began contacting parents of any students who may have been at risk for exposure to the disease, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is caused by inflammation of protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. No other cases have been confirmed, according to Harris County Public Health. The identity of the child who was hospitalized was not released, and further information on that student’s condition was unavailable. (Shafter, 4/18)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Release Programs For Sick And Elderly Prisoners Could Save Millions. But States Rarely Use Them.
A Wisconsin program that allows elderly and severely ill prisoners to be released early from prison could save state taxpayers millions of dollars a year. But thousands of the state’s elderly prisoners — many of whom prison officials acknowledge pose little or no risk of committing new crimes — aren’t allowed to apply, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found. (Barton, 4/18)

Texas Tribune: Texas Health Official Resigns Amid Contracting Errors
The state official who oversees information technology and contracting at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission – which has had a series of contracting mishaps — resigned Wednesday, according to the agency. Heather Griffith Peterson, chief operating officer for the commission, is leaving as the agency continues to get hit by auditors over mismanagement of state contracts. (Evans, 4/18)

Orlando Sentinel: Orange County Health Department Begins Offering Free HIV Prevention Drug
Orange County health department has started offering free HIV prevention drug Truvada as part of a state-wide initiative that was launched last year. ...To be prescribed the medicine, individuals first undergo comprehensive evaluation, which includes HIV, HCV and liver function tests. (Miller, 4/18)

Reuters: Miami Among Cities At Risk From Yellow Fever Spread
Miami is at risk of a deadly yellow fever outbreak because the disease could thrive there but the city has no checks on travelers arriving from endemic zones, a study to be published by the World Health Organization showed. Yellow fever is spread by the same mosquito that causes Zika virus, which spread through the Americas after being detected in Brazil in 2015 and has been reported in southern Florida and southern Texas. (Miles, 4/18)

Kaiser Health News: Power Outages In Puerto Rico Make Life Worse For Chronically Ill In Remote Areas
Helicopters from the power company buzz across the skies of this picturesque valley, ferrying electrical poles on long wires to workers standing on steep hillsides. The people of Castañer, an isolated village in Puerto Rico’s central mountains, watch warily. Crews have come and gone, and people living along the mountain roads don’t expect to get power until late summer, if ever. Power finally started flowing to the center of town last month, but the electrical grid remains unstable — an island-wide blackout Wednesday disrupted progress — and the hospital continues to use its own generator. (Varney, 4/19)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Cancer Survivor Thanks Governor For Stepping In On Deal Between BCBS And Piedmont Health
A day after Gov. Nathan Deal announced a “handshake agreement” from both Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Piedmont Healthcare in an ongoing contract dispute, there still is no signed final contract between the two sides. That leaves close to 600,000 people, mostly state employees, with doctors who could be out-of-network. (Elliot, 4/18)

Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Considering Hookah Lounge Regulations, Including Earlier Closings And No Tobacco Sales To Teens
Columbus is considering new regulations that would force hookah lounges to close earlier and more clearly link their business practices to the city’s law prohibiting tobacco sales to people under the age of 21. At a public hearing Wednesday, hookah lounge owners said the proposed regulations that the Columbus City Council will vote on Monday would be unfair, pointing to gas stations and grocery stores that sell tobacco but are open into the early morning. (Rouan, 4/18)

Georgia Health News: A Slip Or A Blip? After Improvements, Air Quality In Metro Atlanta Slightly Worse
After years of improvement, metro Atlanta’s air quality has grown worse in terms of ozone and short-term particle pollution, according to a new American Lung Association report, using data from the years 2014 through 2016. The organization’s 2018 State of the Air report, released Wednesday, shows metro Atlanta with an increase in ozone. (Miller, 4/19)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ascension Puts Plan To Stop Services At St. Joseph Hospital On Hold
Facing growing criticism, Ascension Wisconsin said Wednesday that it was putting its plan to provide only limited services at St. Joseph hospital on hold. The health system had planned to no longer provide surgical and other services at the hospital in a largely low-income neighborhood in Milwaukee. (Boulton and Hauer, 4/18)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Parts Of Milwaukee Region Get Failing Grade In Air Quality
The American Lung Association has given failing grades to Milwaukee, Ozaukee and Kenosha counties for a key measure of air pollution in its annual national report card on the state of air quality. The poor marks for the three counties are for smog — a summer air pollutant that can reach levels that are unhealthy, even for healthy people and those working or exercising outdoors. (Bergquist, 4/18)

Arizona Republic: 3 Arizonans Among 53 Sickened In Nationwide E. Coli Outbreak
The Arizona Department of Health Services confirmed Wednesday that two people in Maricopa County and another in Pinal County became ill from the strain of E. coli blamed for dozens of illnesses in 16 states. (Anglen, 4/18)

The Star Tribune: Shriners Hospital For Children Planning To Shift To Outpatient Care Only
Shriners Hospital for Children in Minneapolis, which provides free orthopedic treatment, is developing plans to move away from hospital care and focus instead on same-day surgeries and outpatient services, according to a statement issued by its board chairman. The 95-year-old hospital nearly closed in 2003 as part of a systemwide restructuring, but a local spokeswoman said that the facility is in no danger of closing and will continue to provide same-day services, which represents the bulk of its care. (Howatt, 4/18)

Chicago Tribune: Doctor Working For Cook County Tallied $248K In Unauthorized Expenses — Including Piano, Flights, ITunes Charges 
A Cook County doctor quietly resigned after a government watchdog uncovered $248,322 in unauthorized spending, some of which benefited him personally, records and interviews show. Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard concluded in 2016 that Bala Hota had improperly taken grant money and spent it for his “personal benefit.” The case illustrates how bureaucracy in Cook County can slow investigations for years. Hota repaid the money last year — more than three years after he resigned amid the inspector general’s investigation. He has not been charged with a crime nor disciplined by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. (Pratt, 4/18)