Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Failures By N.J. Nursing Center Leaders Led To Deaths Of 11 Children, Report Finds; 10 Babies Died In Arizona Following Outbreak Of Syphilis
The Associated Press: Company Leaders Are Faulted In Outbreak That Killed 11 Kids
A federal report says a viral outbreak that killed 11 children at a New Jersey nursing home was made worse because those in charge didn't plan for such an outbreak and didn't react fast enough. The Record reports the pediatric medical director of the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation didn't know how many children were infected with adenovirus or what his job entailed at the time of the outbreak last fall. (2/27)
Arizona Republic: 10 Arizona Babies Died Of Congenital Syphilis In 2018
Arizona is in the midst of a syphilis oubreak among women and newborns that caused the deaths of 10 babies last year, state data shows. Deaths from congenital syphilis — syphilis passed from a mother to her baby during pregnancy or delivery — are completely preventable. (Innes, 2/27)
Los Angeles Times: What It’s Like To Go To School When Dozens Have Been Killed Nearby
Jaleyah Collier had just said goodbye to Kevin Cleveland outside a doughnut shop a few blocks from Hawkins High School on a spring afternoon in 2017. Get home safe, she told him before walking away. Minutes later someone drove into an alley nearby, got out of the car and asked Kevin, 17, and two others about their gang affiliation. The gunman then sprayed them with at least 10 rounds, killing Kevin and injuring the others. Jaleyah, then a high school sophomore, barely had time to grieve when a month later, her best friend, Alex Lomeli, 18, was shot and killed when someone tried to rob a market about a mile from the same high school, located at 60th and Hoover streets. (Kohli and Lee, 2/27)
Dallas Morning News: Medical City To Open Heart Hospital And Spine Hospital In Dallas This Fall
Medical City Dallas announced Wednesday that it's spending about $92 million to turn a vacant Dallas health care facility into a heart hospital and spine hospital that will open in October. Medical City Heart Hospital and Medical City Spine Hospital will be across the highway from the health system's Dallas campus, which is at North Central Expressway and Forest Lane. The specialty hospitals will be located in the former flagship hospital of Forest Park Medical Center, a chain of doctor-owned hospitals that filed for bankruptcy after its doctors were accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to perform surgeries. (Repko, 2/27)
KCUR: The Latest Data Show Youth Suicides Continue To Rise In Missouri And Kansas
In 2017 in Missouri, 75 children and teenagers killed themselves — the most on record, according to an analysis of the most recent available data for the state. That same year in Kansas, 99 young people took their own lives. Another record.It’s difficult to compare youth suicides in Kansas and Missouri because the two states track the data differently, and some places supress the numbers so that individuals aren't identifiable in the statistics. (Ryan, 2/27)
WBUR: Storing Health Records On Your Phone: Can Apple Live Up To Its Privacy Values?
Since last March, Apple has been rolling out a feature that allows people to store their medical records in its Health app. UC San Diego Health, where Cavaliere sees his doctors, is one of more than 200 health care providers around the United States using the health records feature. (Sydell, 2/27)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wellspring Nursing Home Has To Find New Homes For 105 Residents
Wellspring of Milwaukee, a nursing home and rehabilitation center, is scrambling to find new homes for its residents this week after a vendor won a court judgment that froze its bank account. The nursing home, 9350 W. Fond du Lac Ave., learned on Monday that its bank account was frozen. (Boulton, 2/27)
Georgia Health News: Legionnaires’ Disease On The Rise, And Experts Not Sure Why
Cases of Legionnaires’ disease have quadrupled in Georgia over the past 10 years, public health statistics show. That increase mirrors a national trend, with U.S. cases up fivefold since 2000. (Kanne, 2/27)
The Wall Street Journal: ThriveNYC, A Mental Health Initiative, Comes Under Scrutiny
Officials for the city’s ThriveNYC program, a mental health initiative, struggled to tell members of the New York City Council during testimony Wednesday how its annual budget of $250 million is spent and exactly how New Yorkers have benefited from the city’s services. The ThriveNYC initiative, now three years old, is the signature effort of Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. In January, Ms. McCray announced that the program would become its own office, which now has 21 employees with a $2 million office budget, according to Susan Herman, appointed to lead the office. (West, 2/27)
Nashville Tennessean: Vanguard Healthcare To Pay $18M Settlement For Bogus Claims, Poor Care
For the second time, a Brentwood-based nursing home company has agreed to pay millions of dollars to the federal government to settle a lawsuit alleging the company submitted bogus Medicare and Medicaid claims for reimbursement while neglecting patients. Vanguard Healthcare agreed this week to pay more than $18 million to resolve a federal lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and state of Tennessee for billing Medicare and Medicaid programs for "grossly substandard" nursing home services, according to a news release. (Sauber, 2/27)
Los Angeles Times: Terminal Island Prison Inmates Went Without Heat During The Coldest February In Decades
Hundreds of inmates at the Terminal Island federal prison on the harbor front spent one of the coldest periods in decades in frigid cells with no heat and only blankets for warmth before they were transferred temporarily to another facility. As outside temperatures plunged into the low 40s at night, two units that housed more than 200 inmates lost heat after an underground steam line failed in January at the low-security federal lockup that sits at the entrance to Los Angeles Harbor in San Pedro. (Winton, 2/27)
MPR: Schools Add Healthy, Local To The Menu -- And Some Kids Eat It Up
In Minnesota and around the country, many schools are shifting away from nuggets and fries to fresher, locally-grown foods. More than half of Minnesota school districts now have some kind of farm-to-school program. It's not an easy change. It requires schools to rethink everything when it comes to feeding children. (Shockman, 2/28)
Los Angeles Times: Should California Insure Itself Against Spending Too Much On Fighting Wildfires?
This would be a first for California: state government buying insurance to protect itself against overspending its budget. But before you start pelting the politicians and screaming fiscal irresponsibility, know that the budget-busting would be for fighting wildfires. (Skelton, 2/28)
Columbus Dispatch: Fake Pain Cream Sold At The Arnold, To City First Responders, Couple Admit
A central Ohio couple have pleaded guilty to federal health-care fraud charges for conspiring with others to sell a bogus cream to those seeking pain relief, including attendees at the Arnold Sports Festival and Columbus first-responders. Officials with the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of Ohio said Amy M. Kirk, a nurse practitioner in Columbus, and Ryan D. Edney, of Plain City, each signed plea deals involving conspiracy to commit health-care fraud, according to court records. (Sullivan, 2/27)
