State Highlights: Following Reports Of Neglect In Minn. Nursing Homes, Health Commissioner Resigns; Va. Panel Seeks Solutions For Transporting Psychiatric Patients

Pioneer Press: Minnesota Health Commissioner Quits After Problems Investigating Elder Abuse Exposed – Twin Cities
Minnesota Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger resigned suddenly Tuesday after a series of reports that the state agency he leads was not doing enough to protect seniors from neglect and abuse. Ehlinger’s resignation was effective at the end of the day Tuesday. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Dan Pollock, the deputy health commissioner. Ehlinger’s resignation comes after media reports, including a five-part series in the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune, found residents of senior care facilities statewide were neglected, abused and robbed, but the perpetrators were often never punished and in most instances complaints were never properly investigated. The state Department of Health is responsible for licensing and oversight of senior care centers. (Magan, 12/19)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Legislative Panel Pushes For New Way Of Transporting Mentally Ill
The Joint Subcommittee to Study Mental Health Services in the 21st Century agreed on Tuesday to seek statewide funding for the alternative transportation project, rather than a more limited approach recommended by an advisory work group to test the concept in the Charlottesville region and six communities in Southwest Virginia at a cost of $1.7 million. (Martz, 12/19)

The Star Tribune: Mayo Hospital Workers In Albert Lea Call One-Day Strike To Protest Stalled Talks
Mayo employees picketed their hospital here Tuesday to draw attention to stalled labor talks — a move that Mayo officials dismissed as political grandstanding timed for the holidays. The one-day strike at Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea included about 80 maintenance and general workers who accused the hospital of cutting positions, threatening to take benefits, and refusing to negotiate. (McKinney, 12/19)

The Associated Press: Kansas State Mental Hospital Regains Certification For Unit
The state mental hospital in eastern Kansas has regained federal certification for one of its treatment units after two years of working to address safety and patient care issues, a dose of good news as officials consider the entire hospital's future. The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services confirmed Tuesday that Osawatomie State Hospital, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City, had passed a federal inspection after Thanksgiving, the second within four months. (12/19)

KCUR: Osawatomie State Hospital Regains Federal Certification — And Funding 
Osawatomie State Hospital is again eligible for millions of dollars in federal Medicare payments after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recertified its acute care center. The state psychiatric hospital lost its certification in December 2015 after the reported rape of an employee exposed security concerns and staffing shortages. A subsequent inspection in May 2017 revealed problems with sanitation, infection control and fire safety. (Fox, 12/19)

Miami Herald: Mumps Cases In Florida On Rise In 2017
At least 56 cases of mumps have been reported in Florida in 2017, a significant rise over prior years but well below outbreaks in other states, which have reported hundreds of infections this year. In Florida, mumps cases have occurred across all ages, with the most infections reported in Broward, Collier, Duval, Hillsborough and Palm Beach counties, according to a Florida Department of Health advisory to physicians dated Dec. 11. (Chang, 12/19)

Pioneer Press: Report: Despite Relatively High Rate, Too Few Minnesotans Get Flu Shots 
Barely more than half of Minnesotans got a flu shot during the fall and winter of 2016-17, said a report released on Tuesday. But the state’s 51.7 percent flu vaccination rate was the seventh-highest in the country, according to “Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases, Disasters and Bioterrorism,” a report from the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a goal of 70 percent vaccination, noted John Auerbach, president and CEO of the trust, during a telephone news conference. (Lundy, 12/20)

Health News Florida: Report: Police Responding To Pulse Nightclub Performed Well
A new report from the Department of Justice and the Police Foundation takes a critical look at the police response to the Pulse nightclub shooting. The nearly 200 page review concluded that the Orlando Police Department responded to the shooting in a “manner consistent with national best practices and under extremely volatile and difficult circumstances.” (Aboraya and Byrne, 12/19)

Miami Herald: University Of Miami Names CEO For Health System
Five months after the University of Miami hired Dr. Edward Abraham as dean of the Miller School of Medicine, UM officials this week named him the full-time chief executive of the UM Health System — the network of hospitals, clinics and doctors that make up the largest and among the most visible UM franchises. (Chang, 12/19)

California Healthline: Frail Patients Losing Access To Dental House Calls
Devon Rising shakes his head and tries to cover his face with his hands. It’s time to get his few remaining teeth cleaned, and he fusses for a bit. Gita Aminloo, his dental hygienist, tries to calm him by singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” the classic children’s song. Rising, 42, is mentally disabled and blind. He has cerebral palsy and suffers from seizures. It’s hard for him to get to a dentist’s office, so Aminloo brought her dental picks, brushes and other tools to him at the residential care facility he shares with several other people who have developmental disabilities. (Ibarra, 12/19)

Iowa Public Radio: New Rules For Firearms At Iowa Child Care Centers On Hold
Kim Reynolds’ administration is backing off proposed rules for guns in Iowa day cares, something the Department of Human Services up to now has not addressed. DHS was scheduled to present the proposed rules before state lawmakers last week, but the item was pulled from the Administrative Rules Review Committee agenda. (Russell, 12/19)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Chemical Barrel Recycling Factory Spews Foul Odors And May Be Making People Ill
In February, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation exposed workplace hazards and environmental violations at the plant and others here and around the country, prompting investigations by five state and federal agencies that so far have resulted in more than 70 violations and $114,000 in fines. With reports of the bad odors continuing, the Journal Sentinel tested the air and examined other testing documents that both show the St. Francis plant is emitting pollutants that constitute — at a minimum — a nuisance odor and which may be leading to residents' health ailments. (Diedrich, 12/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Berkeley OKs Continued Use Of Pepper Spray In Crowds
The Berkeley City Council voted Tuesday to keep in place a recently passed ordinance that allows police officers to use pepper spray on violent protesters, rejecting a recommendation from a civilian commission to roll back the law for health concerns. The 5-3 vote will allow police to continue to use the spray in crowd situations when targeting individuals who have become violent, but Police Chief Andrew Greenwood said that officers have not had to do so since the ordinance passed. (Ma, 12/19)