State Highlights: Ga.’s Rural Hospitals In Desperate Financial Need; Ariz.’s White Residents Dying Faster Than They’re Being Born

Georgia Health News: State Identifies Rural Hospitals In Biggest Need Of Donation Help
A South Georgia hospital has been ranked as the most financially stressed among 49 rural hospitals eligible for a new state tax credit program.State officials, after reviewing facility financials, have ranked Irwin County Hospital in Ocilla as the neediest among eligible rural hospitals. The program, created during the 2016 session of the Georgia General Assembly, allows tax credits to individuals and corporations that donate to struggling rural hospitals. The credits aim to help shore up rural health care, which has been under increasing financial pressure in the state. (Miller, 12/8)

Arizona Republic: Why White Deaths Are Outpacing White Births In Arizona: ‘Natural Decrease’
Arizona's white residents are dying faster than they are being born, a shift researchers say will further shake up the rapidly changing face of the state's population. The phenomenon, known as "natural decrease," is occurring in a record 17 states nationwide, according to a study released by the University of New Hampshire's Carsey School of Public Policy. Demographers analyzed data from 1999 through 2014 for the report. Arizona's non-Hispanic white deaths began to outpace births in 2012. (Polletta, 12/8)

Denver Post: Colorado’s Status As Healthiest State Under Threat, Research Finds 
About half of a person’s health and well-being is determined by the “lottery of life,” and in Colorado, the gap between the wealthy and the poor continues to widen. Without greater investment in housing, food programs and health care for impoverished and minority Coloradans, the state’s status as the healthiest in the nation will dwindle, says a new report from the Colorado Center on Law and Policy. (Brown, 12/8)

WABE: GBI: Rape Kits Testing Could Take Six Years Or More 
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says it will take at least six years to process the thousands of rape kits that the agency has received if moving at its current rate. In a report released this month, the agency said there are more than 4,200 kits, which could contain DNA evidence in sexual assault cases, waiting to be tested. (Yu, 12/7)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: For Latinos In South Philly, Clinic Is A Bridge To Health And Much More
Puentes de Salud – “bridges to health” – now has three full-time and six part-time staffers, dozens of volunteers and an annual budget approaching $1 million. About half its patients come through the main clinic office at 17th and South Streets, a newly renovated building on Penn’s Rittenhouse campus. The other 3,000 come through the prenatal clinic at HUP operated by Ludmir. In certain situations such as deliveries and emergency room visits, many immigrants are eligible for the state’s Emergency Medical Assistance program. (Jablow, 12/9)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: New $6M Funding Effort For Digital Health Firms In Philadelphia
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Independence Health Group, and Safeguard Scientifics announced plans Thursday to spend a total of $6 million over the next for years funding early-stage digital health-care startups. Each of the partners has pledged $2 million. Ben Franklin will manage the effort, which is open to companies in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Investments will range from $50,000 up to $1 million per company. Separately, the partners are involved in the Health Innovation Collaborative, started in 2015 by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce's CEO Council for Growth. (Brubaker, 12/8)

The Star Tribune: Minn. Students At UW-Madison Urged To Get Extra Shots After Meningitis Outbreak 
Minnesota students attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison are being urged to get additional vaccinations for meningitis after a small but potentially dangerous campus outbreak this fall. The Minnesota Department of Health said Thursday that undergraduates attending UW-Madison and returning home for winter break need a second dose of the vaccine to ward off meningococcal meningitis B. (Walsh, 12/8)

The Associated Press: Maryland Muslim Doctor Offers Free Clinics
For the past 10 years, Dr. Ashraf Meelu has paid out-of-pocket to offer basic health care in clinics open to the public. The 64-year-old Muslim doctor from Lothian, Maryland, along with a few volunteers, spends Friday mornings providing flu shots, measuring blood pressure and offering other health treatments at a Guatemalan consulate in Silver Spring, Maryland. (Connor, 12/8)

Cleveland Plain-Dealer: Three Ohioans Sentenced For $3.4 Million Home Health Care Scheme 
Three Ohio men were sentenced to prison this week for what the government described as a home healthcare scheme that cost the federal government more than $3.4 million. (Heisig, 12/8)

Arizona Republic: Embattled UA Medical School Director Abruptly Quits, Returns
Dr. Joe G.N. "Skip" Garcia, the embattled top administrator overseeing the University of Arizona's medical schools in Phoenix and Tucson, abruptly resigned Thursday in what he described as an "exceptionally difficult" decision, according to the university... Garcia, who had come under scrutiny for his agency's spending of public funds and the ethics of its leadership, said in a letter to his department that he was proud of the progress of the medical schools. (Alltucker, 12/8)

Health News Florida: Local Autism Center Meets The Needs Of Children 
For school age children with autism or other qualifying special needs, the local school district must create an IEP: Individualized Education Plan. Implementation of that plan is monitored and adjusted as needed. At the Autism Center, they try work with the school system to go further for their clients. (Barrett, 12/8)

Sacramento Bee: Stanford Doctors Describe Conjoined Twins' Separation Surgery 
Mixing hard medical facts with light-hearted humor, surgeons for conjoined twins Erika and Eva Sandoval recounted details Thursday of the risky and intricate surgery that cleaved the girls in two. Two days after the girls were wheeled into surgery at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, veteran pediatric surgeon Dr. Gary Hartman called the 17-hour separation a success and said the 2-year-olds are “recovering quite well.” He made his first public comments at a packed news conference with four other members of the 50-person medical team. (Caiola and Buck, 12/8)

Miami Herald: South Miami Hospital Pays $12 Million To Settle Medicare Fraud Charges 
South Miami Hospital, part of the nonprofit Baptist Health South Florida system, has agreed to pay about $12 million to settle federal charges of healthcare fraud arising from a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that a heart specialist performed medically unnecessary and costly cardiac procedures on thousands of patients dating back to 2007, the Justice Department reported this week. (Chang, 12/8)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: What Georgia Retirees Should Know About Choosing Health Insurance
Retirees who are looking for health insurance this enrollment season have several options, which largely depend on their age, income and circumstances.The following is what you need to know about the choices that may be available to you. (Caldwell, 12/8)

Columbus Dispatch: City, Anheuser-Busch Team Up To Reduce Harmful Drinking
The city of Columbus and Anheuser-Busch are teaming up to reduce the harmful use of alcohol in central Ohio. Organizers say it is the first-ever such citywide program in the United States and that it will involve studying dangerous behaviors and community needs and create initiatives to reduce harmful drinking. (Viviano, 12/8)

San Jose Mercury News: Wish Book: Asthma Camp Teaches Kids They Can Still Play, Exercise
Theresa Perry  hesitated at first to send her son Michael to a weeklong summer camp geared toward helping kids learn how to manage their asthma... The educational camp, held one week every summer at Mayfair Community Center in partnership with the City of San Jose, is geared to help teach kids with techniques to manage their disease. The curriculum includes helping kids understand the different aspects of the disease, recognize the triggers of attacks, know how and when to take their medication and learn how to talk to teachers, coaches and other adult caregivers about their needs related to asthma. (Gomez, 12/8)