State Highlights: Regulators Find Continuing Problems At Troubled Children’s Hospital In Florida; Rate Of Uninsured Texas Children More Than Double National Average

Tampa Bay Times: Regulators Still Not Satisfied With All Children’s Progress
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital announced Tuesday that it has not yet corrected key problems identified by regulators early this year and said it has entered a binding agreement with the federal government requiring it to take special steps to avoid being cut off from public funding. This is the second time the hospital has needed an extension from regulators since January, when inspectors from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wrote a scathing report describing widespread violations of federal hospital safety rules. (Bedi and McGrory, 5/1)

Houston Chronicle: Study: Texas Rate Of Uninsured Children Double National Average 
Texas led the nation in both the number and percentage of uninsured children in 2017, more than doubling the national rate, according to national findings released Wednesday. More troubling is that the percentage of Texas children without health coverage is on the rise, growing to 10.7 percent in 2017 from 9.8 percent the previous year. (Deam, 5/1)

The Oregonian: Oregon Mental Hospital Is ‘World’s Most Expensive Homeless Shelter,’ State Health Director Says
The state official who oversees Oregon’s public psychiatric hospital said Wednesday the facility has become “the world’s most expensive homeless shelter.” His remarks came in the context of a court hearing raising hard questions about ways the state manages resources to help those suffering from mental illness. About 60 percent of defendants admitted to the state mental hospital in Salem were homeless prior to their arrest, Patrick Allen, the Oregon Health Authority director, said in court testimony Wednesday. Those defendants were sent to the Oregon State Hospital to get treatment for the illnesses that prevent them from aiding in their defense at trial. (Friedman, 5/1)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: University Of Holy Cross, LCMC Health Team Up To Launch Physician Assistant Program 
The University of Holy Cross has partnered with LCMC Health to launch a new Master of Science graduate degree for physician assistants. The inaugural program will launch in Fall 2020 and will include on-the-job training for UHC students by doctors and other medical professionals at three of LCMC Health’s five hospitals in and around New Orleans, according to a joint news release from the school and the healthcare provider. In a statement Tuesday (April 30), LCMC Health CEO Greg Feirn said partnering with the university will help educate the next generation of healthcare professionals. (Nobles, 5/1)

The Associated Press: Ohio State Wants Info On '96 Doc Investigation Made Public
Ohio State University asked a judge Wednesday for permission to publicly share information about a confidential state medical board investigation involving the team doctor accused of decades-old sexual misconduct against more than 150 former students. The Perkins Coie law firm has spent a year investigating the men's allegations against Richard Strauss for Ohio State, and its findings are expected soon. The school plans to release that report, which it said will reference information provided by former OSU employees during the 1996 medical board investigation. (5/1)

The Associated Press: Conflict In Michigan AG's Office Over Flint Water Records
A civil war of sorts is developing in the Michigan attorney general's office over 23 boxes of records found in a state basement and what role — if any — they have in the Flint water criminal investigation. Prosecutors led by Fadwa Hammoud, a senior official in the office, want a six-month delay in the involuntary manslaughter case of former state health director Nick Lyon in order to conduct a review of the boxes. But another lawyer in the office took an extraordinary step Wednesday, telling a judge there's "no indication" that the boxes were connected to Lyon and that prosecutors last week had made a series of statements in a court filing that were "not true." (5/1)

Pioneer Press: Duluth Nursing Facility Client Dies After Swallowing Cleaner 
A Duluth nursing facility was responsible for maltreatment of a client who died after swallowing a chemical cleaner, according to a state agency. Westwood of Duluth, an assisted living facility that’s part of the Benedictine Living Community of Duluth, “failed to implement safety precautions when the client had (a) history of climbing over the kitchen gate” and “failed to otherwise secure chemical cleaners,” according to the report from Kathie Siemsen, a special investigator with the Minnesota Department of Health’s Office of Health Facility Complaints. (Lundy, 5/1)

The Washington Post: Homelessness Drops For Third Straight Year In D.C., City Officials Say
The number of homeless people counted on the streets and in the shelters of the nation’s capital has dropped for the third straight year, D.C. officials announced Wednesday. There were 6,521 homeless people in the District, a 5.5 percent decline from last year, according to the annual count performed by the city. The trend was driven by a 15.6 percent reduction in family homelessness, while the number of homeless, single adults increased by 2.8 percent. (Jamison, 5/1)

Sacramento Bee: Resident Physicians Urge UCD Health To Recognize Their Union
State Sen. Maria Elena Durazo rallied Wednesday alongside physician residents and fellows at the UC Davis Medical Center, urging UCD Health’s leaders to recognize the union that residents voted to represent them: the Committee of Interns and Residents. ...Leaders of the UC Davis Medical Center released a statement, saying the university is obligated, under law, to remain neutral until a union is certified by the state to represent an employee group. (Anderson, 5/1)

Los Angeles Times: O.C. Doctor Told Deputies He Found His Wife Dead At The Bottom Of The Stairs. Now He’s Charged With Murder
Dr. Eric Scott Sills, a successful Orange County fertility specialist, told investigators he awoke early on a November morning in 2016 to find his wife dead at the bottom of the stairs of their $1-million San Clemente home. Initially, it appeared that 45-year-old Susann Sills had fallen to her death, but prosecutors say an investigation that has spanned more than two years suggests more sinister circumstances. (Fry, 5/1)

Columbus Dispatch: Audit May Help Explain Sudden Collapse Of Columbus Mental-Health Nonprofit
Just a few years ago, the Columbus Area Integrated Health Services Board of Trustees was looking toward a bright future for the nonprofit, a cornerstone provider of mental health care in the black community for more than half a century. ...Bivens said that he and other trustees are awaiting the results of an audit of Columbus Area’s books to help explain how the nonprofit organization’s finances collapsed so swiftly and thoroughly last month, prompting it to ask the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County to take over Tuesday. (Price, 5/1)

WBUR: Some Boston Doctors Bring Climate Change Into The Exam Room — Warily
For Rice, connecting those consequences — heatwaves, more pollen, longer allergy seasons — to her patients' health is becoming routine. She is among a very small but growing number of doctors and nurses who discuss those connections with patients, in the exam room. (Bebinger, 5/1)

MPR: Premature Death Rate In MN Higher For Low-Income People And People Of Color
State officials say the rate of potentially preventable deaths was more than twice as high for Minnesotans living in high poverty and racially-diverse areas compared to those in majority white or higher income areas. The Minnesota Department of Health examined longevity in census tracts and found people in "higher income, majority white census tracts lived an average of 57 years, while those living in low-income, majority white census tracts lived 54 years. (Zdechlik, 5/1)

The Star Tribune: Minnesota's Premature Death Toll Is Over Twice As High In Poor, Minority Areas 
Minnesotans are less likely to die prematurely from conditions such as stroke and heart disease than people in other parts of the country, but the state’s protective benefits don’t appear to extend to poor and minority residents. Premature deaths — those that might be avoided with proper medical care — were more than twice as likely in regions of the state with the largest impoverished and minority populations, the Minnesota Department of Health reported Wednesday. While racial and economic health disparities have been documented in the state for decades, the size of the gap in death rates still shocked the state researchers. (Olson, 5/2)

MPR: Task Force Takes On Rural Stress In Minnesota
The University of Minnesota has established a new rural stress task force to address a wide range of socioeconomic issues. University of Minnesota Extension Dean Bev Durgan said the effort comes in response to the stress on farm families and rural communities brought on by several years of low farm income. (Gunderson, 5/1)

CNN: 'Vampire Facial' At New Mexico Spa Tied To 2 HIV Cases, Health Officials Say
Health officials are investigating two cases of human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, among clients who received injection-related procedures, including "vampire facials," at an Albuquerque spa. The New Mexico Department of Health announced on Monday that laboratory tests indicated that the two clients were infected with the same virus, increasing the likelihood that the infections may have resulted from a procedure at the spa. (Howard, 4/30)

Boston Globe: Eight Takeaways From The Spotlight Series On The State’s Burgeoning Marijuana Industry
Here are eight takeaways from the Spotlight Team’s three-part series on the state’s new marijuana industry. ...The Globe found that two companies, TILT Holdings and Acreage Holdings, bragged to investors about plans to open as many as a dozen marijuana stores in Massachusetts through complex networks of corporations. (Wallack, 5/1)