State Highlights: Investigation Into Troubled Johns Hopkins-Linked Fla. Hospital Ramps Up; Urgent Care Centers Flourish In Massachusetts, But Not In Low-Income Areas

Tampa Bay Times: State And Federal Inspectors Visit All Children’s After Reports On Heart Surgery Deaths
State and federal inspectors descended on Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital this week, following sharp calls for an investigation into problems in the hospital’s heart surgery unit, the Tampa Bay Times has learned. The scope of the inspection is unclear. But hospital regulators had been criticized in recent weeks for their lax response to early signs of an increase in mortality at the hospital’s Heart Institute. (McGrory and Bedi, 1/11)

Boston Globe: Urgent Care Centers Proliferate In Mass., But Fewer Low-Income Patients Have Access
Most firms operating urgent care centers report that only a small percent of their business comes from patients on Medicaid, known here as MassHealth. And it remains unclear what effect these centers have on the overall health care marketplace. Do they help contain spending by diverting patients from emergency rooms? Or do they add to costs by encouraging new visits? (Kowalczyk and Dayal McCluskey, 1/13)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Louisiana To Spend $500K To Keep Suicide Prevention Hotline Running 
In a first for Louisiana, the state has agreed to spend more than a half-million dollars over the next three years bolstering New Orleans-based nonprofit Via Link’s efforts to answer local calls to the heavily used National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The contract with the state’s Office of Behavioral Health was finalized in October, a month after NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune first reported Via Link was close to shutting down the crisis line, which for the last 12 years had been funded almost exclusively by private donations as it took on a growing number of calls from Louisiana area codes. (Bullington, 1/11)

The Hill: American Being Monitored For Ebola Released From Hospital 
An American physician who was potentially exposed to Ebola while working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was released from the hospital Saturday. The doctor arrived to the U.S. on Dec. 29 and had been at a secure area at the University of Nebraska until Saturday. (Romero, 1/12)

Texas Tribune: Health Care Issues To Expect This Texas Legislative Session
Texas is leading the charge in a federal lawsuit seeking to end the Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare,” arguing the law is no longer constitutional after Congress ended the individual mandate. The state also has the highest uninsured rate among adults in the country and the largest number of children without health insurance. But amid uncertainty about the federal health law, state legislators will tackle a variety of issues during the session, from abortion to mental health to opioids to funding for Medicaid. (Evans, 1/14)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Coalition To Propose Lead-Safe Ballot Initiative, Citing Inaction By Public Officials
A coalition of community groups fed up with waiting for public officials to take action says it is gearing up to propose a ballot initiative in Cleveland to “protect tenants from lead poisoning.” The coalition, called CLASH -- Cleveland Lead Advocates for Safe Housing – includes Cleveland Lead Safe Network (CLSN), which assembled the coalition, Cuyahoga County Progressive Caucus(CCPC), Black Lives Matter of Cuyahoga County, Organize! Ohio and the Cleveland Democratic Socialists of America. (Dissell and Zeltner, 1/11)

The Associated Press: Tennessee Scientists Weighed Response To Anti-Vax Politician
What should a state health department do when its newly elected congressman gets a rush of social media attention for challenging the science behind vaccines? Department of Health officials in Tennessee struggled on the best way to respond after Republican Rep. Mark Green told a town hall meeting last month, without citing evidence, that vaccines cause autism. Green also claimed that the federal government was hiding information about the negative side effects of vaccines. (1/11)

KCUR: Hospital In Hillsboro, Kansas, Averts Shutoff Of Lights After Paying Delinquent Utility Bill 
An eleventh-hour payment of $16,644 for delinquent utility bills averted a threatened cutoff of electricity at tiny Hillsboro Community Hospital in central Kansas. The city, 50 miles north of Wichita and home to about 3,000 people, said in a brief news release that it gave notice to the hospital on Jan. 8 that it would shut off utilities effective at noon Friday. It received the payment in the morning. (Margolies, 1/11)

The Wall Street Journal: CEO Of PG&E Steps Down Amid California Wildfire Crisis
PG&E Corp. said Sunday that Chief Executive Geisha Williams was stepping down as the company grapples with the growing political and financial fallout of its role in helping spark California wildfires. (Blunt and Gold, 1/13)

Los Angeles Times: PG&E Chief Executive Geisha Williams Leaves As Utility Readies For Possible Bankruptcy
"While we are making progress as a company in safety and other areas, the board recognizes the tremendous challenges PG&E continues to face,” said board Chairman Richard C. Kelly, in the statement. “We believe John is the right interim leader for the company while we work to identify a new CEO. Our search is focused on extensive operational and safety expertise, and the board is committed to further change at PG&E.” (1/13)

Texas Tribune: Texas' Rainy Day Fund Might Go To School Security, Harvey Recovery
At a public hearing, House and Senate leaders listed myriad needs they could pay for out of the savings account, including leftover costs from Hurricane Harvey, a bill coming due for retired teachers’ pensions and unspecified public school safety improvements. That savings account, known formally as the Economic Stabilization Fund and colloquially as the rainy day fund, is projected to reach an unprecedented $15 billion in the coming budget cycle if left untouched. (Walters, 1/11)

Health News Florida: DeSantis Offers ‘Bold’ Plan To Address Water Woes
Gov. Ron DeSantis, appearing in areas hit hard by outbreaks of toxic algae and red tide, signed an executive order Thursday expanding state efforts to improve Florida’s troubled waters. And while he took shots from environmentalists on the campaign trail last year when arguing that climate change is not a problem for state government to alleviate, DeSantis said Thursday his approach will rely on “sound science.” (Turner, 1/11)

Tampa Bay Times: The New Smoking Ban Frontier: Removing Butts From Beaches
Now that indoor smoking bans have largely succeeded, anti-tobacco forces are turning their attention to outdoor spots such as beaches and parks. But their argument is no longer focused on the health effects of second-hand smoke. Instead, measures like SB 218 by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, are about eliminating litter — getting butts off beaches. (Pittman, 1/11)

The Star Tribune: Twin Cities Employers Dabble With Tighter Health Care Networks 
Bloomington-based HealthPartners has carved out space within two existing clinics solely for subscribers who pick “SmartCare,” a new employee health plan with a relatively limited network of doctors and hospitals. Starting this month, four employers in the Twin Cities are offering the new program, which steers workers to the newly created Maplewood and St. Paul clinics plus an existing medical office in St. Louis Park for primary care. (Snowbeck, 1/12)

Ventura County Star: Thousand Oaks Man Offers Thanks For Blood That Saved His Life
Without the blood and platelets, Tyler Bacon would have died. It’s neither complicated nor nuanced. It’s as real as the acute myeloid leukemia diagnosed in Bacon’s blood more than two years ago. If donors hadn’t bared their arms, hadn’t made the long trek to the UCLA Blood & Platelet Center, the onetime pro basketball player from Thousand Oaks wouldn’t have a shot at his goal of dunking a basketball at age 40. ...Every year, leaders of the UCLA blood center track down otherwise confidential information and, with the permission of the participants, reunite donors with the person who benefited from their blood and platelets. (Kisken, 1/11)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Hospital Construction In The Richmond Area: A Half Billion Dollars Worth Of Projects In Progress Or In The Pipeline
VCU Health System’s $350 million outpatient medical building under construction is the biggest of those projects, but even with that, the health system has more in the pipeline. A master planning document in draft stages shows new inpatient facilities on the health’s system’s downtown Richmond campus. (Smith, 1/11)

Tampa Bay Times: A Deadly Toll: Hillsborough Leads The State As Number Of Child Drownings Spikes
Every year, Florida's treasure of coastlines, rivers, natural springs and backyard swimming pools prove lethal to children. Nowhere was that more true than in Hillsborough County last year, where the number of drownings spiked to 11, the highest in the state and more than the previous two years combined. (O'Donnell, 1/14)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Recalls Marijuana Products For Mold, Bacteria
Michigan regulators are recalling marijuana products sold at dispensaries in Detroit and Kalamazoo after failing lab tests for mold and bacteria. The products were sold at the Green Mile on Eight Mile Road in Detroit and Compassionate Care by Design in Kalamazoo. Additionally, regulators announced late Friday the recall of marijuana sold in Lansing because of chemical and bacterial contamination.  (Walker and Zaniewski, 1/11)

Boston Globe: What’s In A Name: Marijuana Companies Hope To Break Through The Haze
As more cannabis businesses emerge in Massachusetts, they face one of the most important tasks of starting up: choosing a name. From 2014 through November, most marijuana firms in the state were medical dispensaries that, in picking their appellations, sought to avoid stoner stereotypes and evoke professionalism and health, leading to such names as Alternative Therapies Group, New England Treatment Access, and Theory Wellness. (Martin, 1/14)