Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Negotiations On Hospital Plans For Poor Neighborhoods In D.C. Make Progress; Ohio's State Medical Board Has Complaint Records On Team Doctor
The Washington Post: D.C. Council Approves Bill Relaxing Restrictions On Southeast Hospital Deal
A deal to build a new hospital east of the Anacostia River appeared to survive — at least temporarily — on Tuesday, as the D.C. Council approved a last-minute measure that proponents say will allow negotiations for the project to move forward. The legislation, most of it drafted by council member Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7), stipulated that Howard University’s medical school must have an academic affiliation with either the new hospital or some other medical facility. (Jamison, 12/18)
The Associated Press: State Medical Board Confirms Complaint Records On OSU Doctor
The State Medical Board has acknowledged for the first time that it has confidential records about the investigation of a complaint involving former Ohio State University team doctor Richard Strauss who is accused of widespread sexual misconduct against students decades ago. The documents can't be viewed by the law firm investigating allegations that Strauss abused scores of male student-athletes in the 1980s and 1990s, but still might help guide its inquiry. (12/18)
The Star Tribune: Minnesota AG Swanson Seeks Law On For-Profit Health Plan Deals
Attorney General Lori Swanson is reminding lawmakers that a moratorium blocking nonprofit health plans from becoming for-profit companies is set to expire next year, and therefore requires follow-on legislation. Swanson is highlighting the issue in a letter to Gov.-elect Tim Walz and legislative leaders that was obtained by the Star Tribune. The attorney general, who is leaving office next year, pushed for the current moratorium on for-profit conversions following 2017 legislation that struck down a 40-year ban on for-profit HMOs in Minnesota. (Snowbeck, 12/18)
KQED: In Effort To Keep Alta Bates Open, Officials Point To New Report About Potential Impacts Of Closure
Politicians and unions in the East Bay are stepping up the pressure on Sutter Health to keep Alta Bates Medical Center operational as a full-service hospital. On Tuesday, a task force unveiled a long-awaited report by UC Berkeley heath planning researchers on the impact of the hospital closure on health in the East Bay. (Dillon, 12/18)
Dallas Morning News: Medical City Fort Worth's New $65 Million Tower Expands ER, Intensive Care Unit
Medical City Fort Worth will begin accepting patients Wednesday in a new three-story, $65 million tower that expands its emergency services. The 90,000-square-foot tower includes a 30-room emergency department, a 28-bed intensive care unit and a rooftop helipad for easier access to the ER. Jyric Sims, CEO of Medical City Fort Worth, described the project as "a labor of love" that brings advanced technology to its emergency room. (O'Donnell, 12/18)
Georgia Health News: Effort To Change Georgia’s CON Laws Gains More Momentum
Following a similar move by a House panel, a Georgia Senate study committee has proposed some major changes in the state’s health care regulatory structure known as certificate of need (CON).The panel, chaired by state Sen. Ben Watson (R-Savannah), a physician, has formulated draft legislation that could ease restrictions involving Cancer Treatment Centers of America, which has a hospital in Newnan, and clear a path for a planned sports medicine center in Alpharetta. (Miller, 12/18)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Flu Season In Georgia: How Schools, Churches Are Coping
With Christmas less than a week away, the leader of the state’s 1.2 million Catholics is asking parishioners to consider skipping services if they think they have the flu and says the church may take further steps, so grave are fears about another dangerous flu season. Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory said in a memo to priests and deacons that the situation will be monitored. (Poole and Stirgus, 12/17)
KCUR: After Her Son Nearly Rejects Transplanted Liver, Missouri Woman Campaigns Against Mail-Order Drugs
The big three mail-order companies – Express Scripts, CVS Caremark and OptumRX – insist that’s not a problem. They say they’ve got shipping drugs down to a science. Inside an enormous OptumRX warehouse in a Kansas City suburb, an endless line of orange prescription bottles flies along conveyor belts while pharmacists scan barcodes and technicians refill bins of pills. Lead pharmacist Alysia Heller explains that this shipping behemoth, which sends out up to 100,000 prescriptions a day, includes a system to account for weather. (Smith, 12/19)
The Oregonian: PeaceHealth To Buy Zoom Care After Years Of Legal, Financial Troubles
A West Coast hospital chain has agreed to acquire Portland-based Zoom Care, in a move that will likely bring stability to the chain of neighborhood clinics. Executives would not discuss the financial terms of the merger announced Tuesday. The companies’ leadership would remain separate, they said. But it is unclear whether the charismatic CEO Dave Sanders will remain with Zoom after the deal is completed. PeaceHealth, founded in Vancouver, operates clinics and laboratories in Oregon, Washington and Alaska. The health system generated revenue of $2.2 billion in 2016 and employs about 16,000. Besides its major hospital in Springfield, the company operates Sacred Heart University in Eugene and PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver. (Harbarger, 12/18)
Denver Post: Kaiser Permanente Faces National Labor Relations Board Complaint
Unions representing Kaiser Permanente employees in Colorado and seven other states say the National Labor Relations Board has agreed to consider a complaint that the company is illegally refusing to negotiate new contracts. The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions is also challenging what it says is an attempt by the company to prevent union members from engaging in political action, Sean Wherley, a spokesman for SEIU-United Healthcare Workers, said Tuesday. (Kohler, 12/18)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Big Marijuana Tightens Grip, Receives Most New Pa. Dispensary Permits
On Tuesday, the state Department of Health doubled the number of marijuana dispensaries that will be allowed to set up shop in Pennsylvania, awarding 23 new permits to cannabis companies. Each permit will allow a company to operate three retail storefronts. The latest batch of licensing brings the total number of permits to 50. (Wood, 12/18)
