Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: Poor Record Keeping At NYC Hospitals Blamed For Yearslong Mystery; Critics Assail Iowa Ombudsman For Neglecting Elderly
The New York Times: A Lost Son, A Mother’s Search, And Too Late, The Truth
On a November day in 1991, a 62-year-old mother, Ernestine Davis, and her daughter, Thandi Zwana, entered the imposing New York City brick fortress known simply by its street address — 1 Police Plaza — and sat down to a grisly task. Their search for Ms. Davis’s missing son, Kevin Germany, had brought them here, facing a book of photographs. The photos were of the corpses of unidentified black men. The police showed the pictures to families of missing people in hopes of matching a name to a body. (Wilson, 3/4)
Des Moines Register: Iowa's Top Advocate For The Elderly 'Is Not Doing Its Job,' Critics Say
Iowa’s long-term care ombudsman is drawing fire for her inaction as an advocate for the state’s 543,000 elderly residents. Ombudsman Cynthia Pederson hasn’t lobbied state lawmakers on any bills this year and plans to introduce no legislation of her own. Her staff is dramatically smaller than it was a few years ago, and she has no plans to have her remaining workers resume on-site visits to Iowa nursing homes. (Kauffman, 3/2)
Modern Healthcare: The Road To Recovery: Prospect Of Federal Funding Could Reshape Puerto Rico's Health System - Modern Healthcare
Recovery has been slow in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria struck the U.S. territory Sept. 20, particularly in the island's southeast region, where Ryder Memorial Hospital is located. For Ryder Memorial, the area's largest healthcare provider, addressing patients' health needs has been a daunting task because of how severely the hospital was damaged. Only about half of Humacao's 50,000 residents have electricity, while in the neighboring town of Yabucoa, as many as 80% of residents remain without power. (Johnson, 3/3)
Georgia Health News: Which Health Care Bills Will Make It To Finish Line?
The dust has settled on a major legislative deadline. Yet much uncertainty surrounds the many health care bills that still have a shot at passage in the Georgia General Assembly this year. (Miller, 3/4)
The Washington Post: Houston Day-Care Teacher Raul Reyes Loses Foot To Flesh-Eating Bacteria
At first, Raul Reyes, 26, thought it was a blister from an injury at work. Then a yellowish mass spread across his right foot. The Houston day-care teacher is now coming to terms with the ravages of a flesh-eating infection that burrowed into his appendage. “He woke up the next day and the blister was covering his entire foot, so he went to the clinic, where they told him to get to the emergency room immediately,” his wife, Joseline, told the Houston Chronicle. He was admitted Feb. 23 at Ben Taub Hospital in Houston. (Horton, 3/4)
Houston Chronicle: Houston Daycare Teacher Loses Foot After Contracting Flesh Eating Bacteria
A beloved Houston daycare teacher is readjusting to a new life after his foot was amputated due to a flesh-eating bacteria. Raul Reyes, 26, went to a clinic for a blister on his foot where he learned it was actually a flesh-eating bacteria. He was then hospitalized on Feb. 23. Reye's wife, Joseline Reyes, told Chron.com that due to the nature of the infection, doctors had no choice but to amputate his foot to stop it from spreading through his bloodstream and potentially killing him. (Sternitzky-Di Napoli, 3/3)
The Tampa Bay Times: The Next Step In Telemedicine: Seeing The Doctor While You Shop At Publix
Two of the area’s biggest corporations, operating from vastly different corners of the business world, have found common ground in a new joint venture. BayCare Health System and Publix Super Markets are pairing up in the fast-changing area of telemedicine. Their product: convenience, as in going to the doctor while you shop for groceries. (Griffin, 3/5)
The Associated Press: Milk Co-Op Mailing Highlights Suicide Risk For Dairy Farmers
Accompanying the routine payments and price forecasts sent to some Northeast dairy farmers last month were a list of mental health services and the number of a suicide prevention hotline. The Agri-Mark dairy cooperative got the resources out to its 1,000 farmers in New England and New York following the suicide of a member farmer in January, and one the year before. “I know there’s a number of farmers out there that are under such tremendous stress that we’re worried about that same thing happening,” said Bob Wellington, an economist for Agri-Mar Inc., which owns Cabot Creamery. (Rathke, 3/3)
The Baltimore Sun: Maryland's Rural Areas Don't Have Enough Doctors, Report Finds
Maryland’s rural areas don’t have enough doctors, forcing residents to travel elsewhere for some medical treatment. Transportation is also a problem in rural areas, with many residents living far from towns and cities, making it hard for some people to get to the doctor. Others living in rural areas can’t afford co-pays and high deductibles, so they sometimes skip getting treated. (McDaniels, 3/2)
The Cincinnati Inquirer: St. Elizabeth Joins With UK To Offer More Cancer Care In NKY
Tying itself even more closely to the University of Kentucky, St. Elizabeth Healthcare announced Friday that has affiliated with the university’s Markey Cancer Center to bring more cancer treatment to Northern Kentucky. (Saker, 3/2)
Seattle Times: Ousted Swedish Surgeon Claims A Conspiracy, But Doctors Say ‘Smoking Gun’ Is Fake
Johnny B. Delashaw Jr., former head of the Swedish Neuroscience Institute, says he received a batch of records anonymously that show other doctors conspired with each other and with The Seattle Times to oust him, according to records in a state medical hearing. But the document Delashaw’s lawyers call “the smoking gun,” a purported email exchange between two doctors, was fabricated, according to the two doctors and a forensic analyst hired by one of them. Delashaw has cited these records in his bid to appeal the state’s suspension of his medical license. (Gilbert, 3/2)
Ventura County Star: Fire-Closed Psych Hospital Could Open As Soon As May
Closed because of damage from the Thomas Fire, Vista del Mar psychiatric hospital could reopen as soon as May, officials said Thursday. The private facility’s 87 beds closed on Dec. 5, the day after the fire spread to Ventura’s hillsides and destroyed two of five buildings. The staff and 67 patients evacuated in a last-minute, late-night convoy of vans and other vehicles as palm trees surrounding the campus burst into flames. (Kisken, 3/1)
Reuters: Nursing Home Chain HCR ManorCare To Sell Itself In Bankruptcy
The second-largest U.S. nursing home operator, HCR ManorCare, will file for Chapter 11 protection in the coming days and transfer ownership to its landlord, Quality Care Properties Inc, the latest sign of distress in the senior housing industry. Quality Care, a real estate investment trust, announced the agreement on Friday, saying it would become the full owner of Toledo, Ohio-based ManorCare's skilled nursing, assisted living, hospice and homecare businesses across the United States. (Rucinski and Roumeliotis, 3/2)
The Star Tribune: HCMC Prints 3-D Implant To Repair Fractured Skull Bone
Hennepin County Medical Center has marked a new era in medicine: One in which 3-D printers are used not just for anatomical models and surgical practice, but to create real implants in real patients. And it came just in time for construction worker Justin Siltala, who was injured last fall when a shovel handle snapped, driving a long wooden shard through his eye socket and into his brain. (Olson, 3/3)
