Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Finally, Minn. Striking Nurses, Allina Reach Tentative Deal; Conn. Officials Seek Ways To Keep Its Medical School Graduates Local
The Star Tribune: Allina, Striking Nurses Reach Tentative Deal
Allina Health and its nurses reached a tentative agreement around 4 a.m. Tuesday after a 17-hour negotiating session called together by Gov. Mark Dayton at his residence... More than 4,000 nurses from five Allina hospitals will now vote whether to accept the contract. Nurses have rejected three prior contracts, most recently in an Oct. 3 vote. But this time their union, the Minnesota Nurses Association, will recommend the contract’s approval, according to the statement from the governor’s office. (Olson, 10/11)
The New York Times: Connecticut Wants To Hold On To Doctors Trained In The State
Connecticut officials, concerned that graduates of its medical schools are fleeing the state, are looking for ways to encourage those freshly minted doctors to remain. State Rep. Prasad Srinivasin, a board-certified allergist and the only physician in the General Assembly, said he's worried Connecticut is losing both home-grown and out-of-state medical students to other states where there may be more doctor-friendly medical malpractice laws and affordable costs of living. (10/10)
Kansas Health Institute: Kansas Hospital Network Reduces Rate Of Acquired Infections
As part of a federal quality improvement effort, Kansas hospitals are reducing the odds that patients will get certain types of infections. And while that effort provides information on hospital quality throughout the state, finding information about the quality of care at individual hospitals remains a challenge. The Kansas Healthcare Collaborative runs a hospital engagement network that includes 106 of the state’s 133 hospitals. Through a federally funded program, hospitals in the network are working to reduce patient harm and hospital readmissions by sharing their best practices. (Wingerter, 10/10)
The Tennessean: TriStar, Maury Regional Plan Behavioral Health Facility In Columbia
TriStar Health and Maury Regional Medical Center are planning an in-patient behavioral health facility in Columbia. The availability of behavioral health beds to treat has been highlighted by state and industry officials as an obstacle to treating people with substance abuse and addiction, for example. The proposed $24.4 million facility would have 60 beds for adult and adolescent patients. (Fletcher, 10/10)
Sacramento Bee: Sutter’s Visiting Nurses Program To Cut 154 Jobs In Northern California
Sutter Care at Home is cutting 154 jobs in Northern California, part of a reorganization of its visiting nurses program, officials announced Monday. The cuts, which affect administrative and medical coding positions, include 15 jobs in Sacramento, 20 in Roseville, eight in Yuba City and 14 in Modesto. Sutter Health officials said the job losses do not affect staffers who provide patient care, such as home health care or hospice. The positions are either being consolidated or outsourced. (Buck, 10/10)
Kaiser Health News: California Won’t Extend Parental Leave Rights To Small Businesses
Aiming to attract and keep top-notch talent, a growing number of companies are dangling family-friendly perks such as lengthy paid leave for new moms and dads, back-up child care and onsite infant vaccines. But the attention-grabbing headlines — such as “IBM plans to ship employees’ breast milk home” — obscure the reality that for many workers, basic benefits such as guaranteed parental leave, even unpaid, is unavailable. (Andrews, 10/11)
Sacramento Bee: Spending Big On Sex And Drug Initiatives, AIDS Activist Michael Weinstein Says He ‘Can’t Lose’
Weinstein, 64, leads the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, an organization he willed from a 25-bed hospice near Dodger Stadium to a global powerhouse that rivals the American Cancer Society. AHF, as it is known, has a projected $1.3 billion budget, more than 600,000 clients and operates in 37 countries. Weinstein still can’t be described as beloved, and his latest attempt to curb drug prices isn’t helping his cause. (Cadelago and White, 10/10)
Kaiser Health News: New Law Will Expand Mental Health Services For Low-Income Californians
The staff of Clinica Sierra Vista, which has health centers throughout the Central Valley, screened its mostly low-income patients last year for mental health needs and determined that nearly 30 percent suffered from depression, anxiety or alcoholism. Christopher Reilly, Sierra Vista’s chief of behavioral health services, said he was concerned about the high percentage of patients afflicted, but even more so about the clinic’s ability to treat them. (Gorman, 10/11)
The Washington Post: Loudoun Deputies Learn How To Identify, Respond To People With Autism
Drew Gutenson loves to talk about his collection of prescription eyeglasses and his fondness for playgrounds — slides, swings, trampolines and zip lines. Gutenson, who describes himself as a high-functioning adult with autism, knows that some skills are particularly challenging for him, such as sensing when people don’t want to talk to him. He also understands that his fondness for playgrounds can be a source of concern for those who don’t know him. (Barnes, 10/10)
New Hampshire Union Leader: After Twin's Illness, Weare Family Finds Hope, Help In Community
Folks in two New Hampshire towns are wrapping a Weare family in love and prayers, after one of their twin baby girls contracted bacterial meningitis and needed emergency brain surgery....A surgeon performed an emergency craniotomy on the tiny girl to try to clean out the infection in her brain, then sewed her up, leaving a portion of her skull missing to accommodate swelling. (Wickham, 10/10)
