State Highlights: Mass. Children With Mental Illnesses Spending Days Stuck In ER; Ex-Students File Suit Against OSU Over Sexual Assault Allegations

Boston Globe: Long ER Waits Persist For Children In Mental Health Crises
Some patients with mental illness, particularly children, are spending days stuck in tiny windowless rooms in hospital emergency departments waiting for treatment, a persistent problem despite new statewide rules designed to resolve the backlogs. From February through May, 155 patients in mental health crisis spent at least four consecutive days in an emergency room, according to Massachusetts officials who began gathering the data six months ago. (Kowalczyk, 7/17)

The Associated Press: Lawsuit, Ex-Student Focus On Complaints About Ohio State Doc
Four former wrestlers say in a new lawsuit that Ohio State University officials ignored repeated complaints about "rampant sexual misconduct" by a now-dead team doctor, and a former student confirmed Tuesday that investigators have documentation about at least one decades-old incident that prompted a complaint. Former student Steve Snyder-Hill said he wrote to a student health center official in the 1990s after being examined by Dr. Richard Strauss, whose behavior is the subject of an independent investigation that began months ago. (7/17)

San Antonio Press-Express: Audit Finds Major Contracting Problems At Embattled Health And Human Services Commission
State auditors found sweeping contracting problems at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, a mega-agency responsible for overseeing billions of dollars worth of health care for the state's most vulnerable residents. An audit of 28 contract awards worth roughly $4.6 billion found errors at every level, from scoring the vendor’s proposals to keeping track of all documentation. (Morris, 7/17)

The Associated Press: Oklahoma Medical Board Lawyer Charged With Making Threats
The top lawyer at the Oklahoma State Department of Health already at the center of a controversy over new marijuana rules was charged Tuesday for allegedly sending threatening emails to herself. The agency's former general counsel, 37-year-old Julia Ezell of Edmond, was charged Tuesday in Oklahoma County with two felonies and one misdemeanor for allegedly sending the threats and then lying to investigators about it. (7/17)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Has One Of Nation’s Highest Risks For OB-GYN Shortage, Report Warns
A study released earlier this year by Doximity, the nation’s largest online network for health care providers, ranked Sacramento ninth in a list of the top 10 metropolitan areas in the nation with the highest risk of an OB-GYN shortage. The online network uses a score system to assess the severity of the lack of providers in 50 of the nation’s metropolitan areas, taking into consideration the age of practicing providers and the ratio of births to OB-GYNs. (Holzer, 7/18)

Texas Tribune: Texas Teachers' Health Care: Why Most Districts Are Enrolled In TRS-ActiveCare
According to the latest enrollment numbers, nearly 90 percent of Texas school districts participate in the program, known as TRS-ActiveCare.But in recent years, frustration has grown with the state’s support of the program, and a few larger districts have lobbied to leave. State law currently doesn’t allow that, however, and bills designed to give the districts permission to depart have failed in the Texas Legislature. (Haigh, 7/18)

Los Angeles Times: Assault Weapon Registrations In California Are Up 43% Under New Law
Assault weapons registered in California have increased by 43% under a new law that expanded the types of firearms gun owners must log with the state. Californians have applied to register 68,848 additional assault weapons in the last 11 months to comply with a state law enacted following the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino. The 2016 law bans sales of semi-automatic assault rifles equipped with “bullet buttons,” which have detachable magazines that enable quick replacement of ammunition, and requires old ones to be registered with the California Department of Justice by the end of June. The mandate should allow law enforcement to better track the weapons. (McGreevy, 7/17)

Kaiser Health News: Hurricane Maria Still Taking A Toll On Puerto Rico’s Seniors
The question of who will care for Puerto Rico’s aging population is a growing crisis, says Dr. Angel Muñoz, a clinical psychologist and researcher at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce. The island’s elderly population is particularly at risk amid the new Atlantic hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30. Earlier this year, a study by Harvard researchers estimated that 4,600 Puerto Ricans died in the months after Hurricane Maria hit last September. Many were seniors who faced delays in getting medical care. (7/18)

Oakland Tribune: Major Racial Inequity Exists In Oakland, Report Shows
A first-of-its kind report on racial equity in Oakland highlights some unsettling realities for African-Americans in the city, including that they are 12.95 times more likely than whites to be arrested for a felony, 8.6 times more likely than whites to be jailed and 23.68 times more likely than whites to have force used against them by a law enforcement officer. In addition to gauging public safety inequities in Oakland, the study issued last week by the City University of New York highlighted racial inequities in economy, education, public health, housing, and neighborhood and civic life categories. (Tadayon, 7/17)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Scott Walker Announces $4 Million To Help Milwaukee Replace Lead Pipes
The City of Milwaukee is getting another $4 million to help pay for lead pipe replacements, Gov. Scott Walker announced Wednesday. The additional money will be used to help homeowners, schools and day care centers replace their old lead service lines. (Spicuzza, 7/18)

North Carolina Health News: SNAP Expected To Be Harder To Use At Some Farmers Markets
At farmers markets around North Carolina, the tables are piled high with tomatoes, okra, cucumbers, peaches and more. But even as the growing season is peaking, some folks who might want to buy will have a harder time bringing those fresh fruits and vegetables home. That’s because the technology company that currently processes Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps) benefits at 40 percent of the country’s farmers markets will stop doing so at the end of July. (Ovaska-Few, 7/18)

KQED: S.F. Landlords Back Fire Safety Measure That Could Force Installation Of Sprinklers
The industry association that represents San Francisco's landlords is backing a new Board of Supervisors proposal that would give city inspectors the power to force scofflaw property owners to install or upgrade fire alarm and sprinkler systems. Supervisor Hillary Ronen on Tuesday unveiled a set of measures that would allow the city's Fire and Building Inspection departments to order landlords who have failed to correct two or more safety violations to retrofit their buildings with sprinklers and alarms or improve existing systems. (Golderg, 7/17)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: St. Louis To Hire Ohio-Based Nonprofit Homefull To Run Biddle House Homeless Shelter
When Eddie Roth was appointed by former Mayor Francis Slay to direct Human Services — the department of St. Louis city government tasked with addressing homelessness — he sought guidance from Tina Patterson, the CEO of Dayton-based Homefull, a nonprofit providing services to the homeless there. Roth knew Patterson from his time in Dayton, and they stayed in touch when Roth returned to St. Louis. (Bott, 7/18)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Medical Marijuana Push In Missouri Gets Help From Secret Donations Pouring In
An organization backing one of three competing medical marijuana initiatives in Missouri continued to pull in big-dollar contributions last quarter, though the origin of the vast majority of the haul is shrouded in secrecy. The Missourians for Patient Care campaign committee raised $530,000 in monetary contributions between April and July — and a nonprofit corporation with the same name funneled $505,000 of that total to the group. The nonprofit does not have to reveal its donors. (Suntrup, 7/17)