Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Illinois Children Stuck In Psychiatric Hospitals With Nowhere To Go; Florida Hospitals Dinged For MRSA Rates
ProPublica: Hundreds Of Illinois Children Languish In Psychiatric Hospitals After They’re Cleared For Release
These unnecessary hospitalizations are another failure for a state system that has frequently fallen short in its charge to care for Illinois’ most vulnerable children, who suffer from conditions such as severe depression or bipolar disorder. Though statistics to compare how states handle children in psychiatric hospitals are scarce, and other states also experience similar challenges, psychiatrists and mental health experts say circumstances in Illinois are among the most dire in the nation. (Eldeib, 6/5)
Miami Herald: CDC: Jackson Health Led All U.S. Hospitals In MRSA Infections In 2017
Seven Florida hospitals fell below national standards for combating a deadly infection known as MRSA — and patients at Miami-Dade's Jackson Health System were more likely to develop a MRSA infection than patients at any other hospital in Florida, according to data collected by the federal government as part of a national effort to reduce the infections. (Chang, 6/4)
KQED: Close To A Quarter Of Lettuce-Related E. Coli Cases Were In California
The nationwide outbreak of E. Coli tied to romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Arizona, has now sickened 45 people in California, according to state health officials. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday announced an update on the number of cases around the country: At least 197 people in 35 states have now become sick from the outbreak. (Goldberg, 6/4)
Kaiser Health News: Suspension Of California’s Aid-In-Dying Law Leaves Sick Patients In Limbo
Dozens of terminally ill patients in California who counted on using the state’s medical aid-in-dying law may be in limbo for a month after a court ruling that suspended the 2016 measure. A judge who ruled in May that the law was improperly enacted refused to vacate that decision at the request of advocates last week. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia set a hearing for June 29, however, to consider a separate motion by state Attorney General Xavier Becerra to reverse the decision. (Aleccia, 6/5)
Chicago Sun Times: County Board Plans Public Hearing On Finances Of Hospitals System Tuesday
The Cook County Board of Commissioners will meet with executives of the county’s health and hospitals system Tuesday for a public hearing on the system’s finances after two inspector general reports found faults in the system that resulted in lost revenue. The meeting will begin at 1 p.m. in the County Board room. In March, Independent Inspector General Patrick Blanchard found that faults in patient scheduling and registration, as well as accurate coding and billing, resulted in the system losing out on $66 million because of denials in 2017, and over $108 million in 2016. In May, Blanchard issued a supplement to that report, estimating that the amount of lost revenue from 2015 to 2017 was around $165 million. (Hinton, 6/4)
Miami Herald: Broward Cities' Task Force Has 100 School Safety Ideas
After a former student entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, killed 17 and wounded 17 more in the deadliest school shooting in Florida history, the Broward League of Cities formed a task force to assess school and community safety measures. On Monday, it released a 93-page report with 100 suggestions. (Wright, 6/4)
Chicago Sun Times: Healthcare And Family Services Chief Felicia Norwood Leaving Rauner Administration To Join Anthem Insurance Firm
Felicia Norwood is stepping down as director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to take an executive position at a leading health insurance company later this month. Anthem, a for-profit health care company in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, announced Monday that Norwood had been named executive vice president of the company and president of its Government Business Division. Prior to joining Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration in 2015, Norwood spent nearly 20 years at Aetna, another leading insurance company. (Schuba, 6/4)
Nashville Tennessean: Williamson Medical Center Working Out Construction Costs For Expansion
With Williamson Medical Center expanding, the county could vote to secure its $45 million bond note to fund its construction. The total $79 million extension of the hospital will include new orthopedic offices and an expansion of women’s services. That will mean 14 new delivery rooms, eight additional neonatal intensive care units, a new location for the baby nursery and a new operating room for women having a caesarean. (West, 6/4)
Kaiser Health News: Listen: Disrupted Lives, Delayed Care And A Revised Death Toll In Puerto Rico
KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney, on assignment in Puerto Rico, spoke with Mina Kim, host of KQED Forum, on Friday — the first day of hurricane season. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last week showed that more than 4,600 people perished during and after the Sept. 20 storm. A third of the deaths were attributed to delayed medical care or no medical care at all, according to the study. Varney has seen firsthand how devastation wrought by the storm harmed citizens of the island, especially the sick and elderly. (6/4)
Miami Herald: Judge Considers Lifting Stay On Medical Marijuana Ruling
Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers said Monday she will decide quickly on whether to lift an automatic stay on her ruling declaring that the state's ban on smoking medical marijuana is unconstitutionalIf she lifts the ban, it will force Gov. Rick Scott and state regulators to move forward on rules they have spent the last two years trying to delay. (Klas, 6/4)
