State Highlights: Dozens Of States Examine Rules To Upgrade EMS Care Of Stroke Patients; Fla. Lawmakers Eye Stronger Regulations For Cosmetic Surgeries

Stateline: State Policies Might Keep Stroke Patients From The Care They Need 
Unlike state rules for accident victims, which uniformly require first responders to take severely injured patients to the most advanced trauma unit available, state policies for stroke patients vary widely. Most state rules direct paramedics to the closest hospital with a stroke unit, regardless of the attack’s severity. And some states limit paramedics to taking stroke patients to hospitals within state borders. (Vestal, 3/22)

The Associated Press: Florida May Boost Regulation Of Cosmetic Surgery Clinics
Choeun Nuon traveled from her home in California to a Miami-area cosmetic surgery clinic to have a so-called Brazilian butt lift in February 2017. Instead of recovering after the procedure, the 32-year-old mother of two began slipping in and out of consciousness. She eventually passed out because of a severe drop in blood pressure. When Nuon awoke and slowly found her bearings, she was in an emergency operating room at a nearby hospital, surrounded by medical staff. Medics learned that her surgeon had punctured her lumbar artery, causing her profuse internal bleeding. (3/24)

The Associated Press: Michigan Deal Bars LGBT Discrimination In State Adoptions
Faith-based adoption agencies that are paid by the state of Michigan will no longer be able to turn away LGBT couples or individuals because of religious objections under a legal settlement announced Friday. The agreement was reached between Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel's office and lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued the state in 2017 on behalf of two lesbian couples and a woman who was in foster care in her teens. (3/22)

Kaiser Health News: States Push For Caregiver Tax Credits
Gloria Brown didn’t get a good night’s sleep. Her husband, Arthur Brown, 79, has Alzheimer’s disease and had spent most of the night pacing their bedroom, opening and closing drawers, and putting on and taking off his jacket. So Gloria, 73, asked a friend to take Arthur out for a few hours one recent afternoon so she could grab a much-needed nap. She was lucky that day because she didn’t need to call upon the home health aide who comes to their house twice a week. (Young, 3/25)

Concord Monitor: New Medical Office Building At Concord Hospital Will Hold Concord Orthopaedics
The steel framework rising above Concord Hospital signals a $56 million addition to the medical campus that officials say will help guide the hospital through the medical, technical and financial changes sweeping health care. It also signals something else: Neighbors on Pleasant Street can stop worrying about getting rezoned. When the medical office building opens a year from now, the bottom of its four floors will hold the surgery center of Concord Orthopaedics, a move from nearby facilities in which the facility has operated for two decades, in partnership with the hospital. That shift means the institution no longer wants to build a standalone surgical center on Pleasant Street, an idea that produced months of loud opposition before planners shelved it last year. (Brooks, 3/23)

The New York Times: A Children’s Book Is Causing A Political Scandal In Baltimore. It’s Quite A Tale.
What has become a full-blown political scandal in Baltimore started innocently enough. In fact, it began with a children’s book. Mayor Catherine Pugh, a fitness fanatic, said that about a decade ago, she was inspired to encourage children to pursue healthy lifestyles, and so she created the “Healthy Holly” series of books, about a little girl devoted to self-improvement and the betterment of those around her. (Williams, 3/22)

San Jose Mercury News: State Agency Blasts San Jose Foster Care Provider Unity Care
Within four months, the state of California — in a rare move — took action to revoke the licenses of Unity Care’s five San Jose foster homes that were part of a new program serving the highest-risk foster youths.In a legal action obtained by the Bay Area News Group, the state Department of Social Services outlined a disturbing list of failures that accused Unity Care of leaving high-risk foster youths without proper supervision in filthy, unsafe environments. (Prodis Sulek, 3/23)

KQED: Cal/OSHA Launches Probe Into Attack That Injured Two Stanford Hospital Psych Nurses
State workplace regulators are investigating Stanford Hospital after a nurse in her 70s was attacked by a patient in a psychiatric unit earlier this month in an incident police learned of two days later.The attack, which left the nurse with serious injuries, took place on March 12, but Palo Alto police did not learn of the incident until March 14. (Goldberg, 3/22)

The Associated Press: California Grower Recalls Avocados Over Possible Listeria
A Southern California company is voluntarily recalling whole avocados over possible listeria contamination. Henry Avocado, a grower and distributor based near San Diego, said Saturday that the recall covers conventional and organic avocados grown and packed in California. The company says they were sold in bulk across California, Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin, North Carolina and New Hampshire. There have been no reports of any illnesses associated with the avocados. (3/24)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: New Program Addresses Homelessness Among LGBTQ+ Youth
Homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth in the Richmond region was the subject of a community forum Sunday that included the public unveiling of a new program that will provide temporary housing as well as other services. Host Home is seeking volunteers willing to open their homes to youth experiencing homelessness. (Lohmann, 3/24)

The CT Mirror: Network Proposed To Help LGBTQ Community
[Patrick] Dunn recounted the young man’s story as part of his testimony Thursday before the legislature’s Human Services Committee on a bill establishing a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Health and Human Services Network. The purpose of the network is to make recommendations to the state about how to “work toward a safer and healthier environment for the LGBTQ community.” (Megan, 3/22)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Increasing Number Of Milwaukee Children Hospitalized For Poisoning
Increasing numbers of Milwaukee area children are being hospitalized for severe lead poisoning, a Children's Hospital of Wisconsin doctor said Friday. Heather Paradis, a pediatrician who serves as the hospital's medical director for community services, delivered the disturbing news during a heated meeting at City Hall about lead poisoning in Milwaukee. (Spicuzza, 3/22)

Sacramento Bee: CA’s Healthiest Counties Are Also Its Richest, Study Says
A new study revealing California’s healthiest, and least healthy, counties highlights the divide between both urban and rural California as well as richer and poorer counties. ...The findings showed that that the Bay Area, Napa Valley and Southern California were home to some of the healthiest counties in the state, while the least healthy counties all were found in rural Northern California and along the Central Valley. (Sheeler, 3/22)

Capital Public Radio: Undocumented Health Care Varies By County In California
A new report released Thursday by the Insure the Uninsured Project, a nonprofit group pushing for universal health care, shows that county programs for the medically indigent are generally serving fewer people now than they did before the Affordable Care Act. At the same time, more counties are offering some level of care to their undocumented population than ever before. (Caiola, 3/24)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Rural Georgia Hospitals Watch Health Care Bills With A Wary Eye
The brutal economics of rural hospitals have come up again and again in the Georgia Legislature over the years. This year, lawmakers are debating a number of bills that have the potential to change the picture. One measure, Senate Bill 106, with serious momentum and the potential to drive billions of dollars into the state, could give Gov. Brian Kemp the power to help insure hundreds of thousands of Georgians through Medicaid and private insurance. (Hart, 3/22)

Seattle Times: City Removes Homeless Camp Near Seattle’s Fremont Troll That Was Site Of Overdoses 
The city of Seattle has removed a large, unauthorized homeless encampment near the famed Fremont Troll sculpture that was the site of several drug overdoses this year. City officials have also pledged to prevent the encampment from reforming, according to an email to a Fremont resident from Deputy Mayor David Moseley obtained by The Seattle Times. (Davila, 3/23)