State Highlights: Gov. Dayton Creates Minn. Mental Health Task Force; Affordability, Access Key Issues At Fla. Summit

The Associated Press: Dayton Establishes Minnesota Mental Health Task Force
Gov. Mark Dayton has created a task force on mental health in Minnesota. Dayton issued an executive order Wednesday creating the task force. It will include Minnesotans who have experienced mental illness, state and local government officials, mental health and other health care providers, and judicial and law enforcement officials. (4/27)

News Service Of Florida: Expanding Access Called Key In Addressing Health Issues
Speakers at a health-care "summit" said Tuesday that expanding access to care for more Floridians could save the state money. The two-day Florida Health Care Affordability Summit, sponsored by the business group Associated Industries of Florida, included lawmakers and experts addressing topics ranging from controlling drug costs to expanding treatment options through technology. (Menzel, 4/27)

The New York Times: New York’s Medical Schools Say They Feel Squeeze In Finding Clinical Clerkships
New York medical schools and their competitors offshore are clashing over a precious resource: the opportunity for students to watch and learn from doctors in hospitals. Students in their third and fourth year of medical school need clinical clerkships so they can see how doctors diagnose patients, perform surgeries and deliver babies. Officials at New York medical schools say it is becoming harder to find sites for these rotations, partly because for-profit offshore medical schools, often in the Caribbean, have bought slots from New York hospitals at prices topping $400 a week per student. (Brody, 4/26)

The San Francisco Chronicle: State’s Doctors Join Suit Over Dignity Health Sterilization Ban
California’s doctors are joining a legal challenge to the state’s largest owner of private hospitals over its refusal to allow women to have tubal ligations in its Catholic hospitals because of the church’s objections to sterilization. (Egelko, 4/27)

The Associated Press: State Holding Public Hearing On Long-Term Care Insurance
The Maryland Insurance Administration wants to hear your views on long-term care insurance. The agency is holding a public hearing at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville. Commissioner Al Redmer says the agency wants to hear about the state of long-term care insurance and appropriate regulatory guidelines. He says he’s particularly interested in issues surrounding premium rate increases and policyholder protection. (4/28)

The Chicago Sun-Times: Lead Testing Begins For Tap Water In City Schools, Homes
Chicago residents can now call 311 to have their tap water tested for lead, and 28 city schools are being tested under a new pilot program to evaluate potential health risks posed by lead water pipes. (Armentrout, 4/27)

The Associated Press: Vermont To Host First Blood Draw For Those Exposed To PFOA
Vermont's Health Commissioner Dr. Harry Chen will be on hand at the first blood draw clinic for Bennington residents who have been exposed to the chemical PFOA in their drinking water. The Health Department is teaming up with the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center to offer blood tests. The first clinic is set for Friday at the Health Department's Bennington regional office. (4/27)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Harvard Study: Soda Tax Would Make Phila. Healthier
Harvard University researchers are projecting major health benefits if Mayor Kenney's proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages is enacted. (Sapatkin, 4/27)

News Service Of Florida: Scott, Atwater Remain In Standoff On Insurance Chief
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater refused to go along with Gov. Rick Scott's nominee for state insurance commissioner on Tuesday, maintaining an impasse over a high-profile appointment that they must jointly support. (Turner, 4/27)

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Five Health Systems To Collaborate To Build Workforce
The five health systems in the Milwaukee area have roughly 4,000 job openings combined, and the shortage of workers is projected to become even more severe as a large chunk of the health care workforce retires. On Wednesday, the health systems announced an alliance to help lessen the current and projected shortage. (Boulton, 4/27)

The Boston Globe: Nursing Home Records May Have Been Falsified
State regulators are investigating whether nurses falsified patient records, and then lied about their actions, at a troubled Wilmington nursing home where two residents died, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. (Lazar, 4/28)

The Orlando Sentinel: Florida Hospital Files Plans For New Emergency Department
Forida Hospital leaders want to build a 24-room free standing emergency department in east Orange County off Lake Underhill Road. The plan, originally submitted to Orange County leaders in February, went before the county's Development Review Committee Wednesday for preliminary approval, which would allow the project to move forward. (Dineen, 4/27)

Health News Florida: Wrongful Death Suit Filed, Using 'Outrage' Claim
When 31-year-old Shannon Lawley died at a Brevard County hospital four years ago, her parents wanted to file a medical malpractice suit. But only spouses or children can sue under Florida law, and Shannon Lawley had neither. Michael Lawley felt the law was so unfair that he protested to the legislature the year after she died, as Health News Florida reported at the time. (Gentry, 4/27)

The Pioneer Press: HIV Infections Rise In Some Groups In Minnesota
HIV infections rose in some groups in Minnesota last year, while total numbers fell slightly, according to a new report. The state had 26 new HIV cases among intravenous drug users in 2015 — an 86 percent jump compared with the 14 cases the previous year. New HIV cases also rose among people ages 20 to 29, with 108 cases in 2015 — a 24 percent rise from the 87 cases reported the previous year, according to a Minnesota Department of Health report released Wednesday. (Rathbun, 4/27)

The Albuquerque Journal: Workers Comp Arguments Will Begin Today
The New Mexico Supreme Court is expecting a full house for oral arguments today on a hotly disputed question: Is the exclusion of farm and ranch workers from the Workers Compensation Act unconstitutional? The Court of Appeals and a District Court judge in Albuquerque both have ruled that is unconstitutional because it treats similar groups in different ways. (Sandlin, 4/27)