State Highlights: ‘Scary Day’ For Homeless Vets As VA Closes California Shelter; Massachusetts Governor Readying New Health Policy

Los Angeles Times: In Gentrifying Echo Park, The VA Is Forcing These Homeless Veterans To Leave
For six years, dozens of homeless veterans have recovered from trauma in nine cottages along a winding residential road in Echo Park. The Billets — military jargon for civilian quarters — has been a model. The 72-bed program places as much as 70% of its chronically homeless veterans — male and female — in permanent housing, according to Volunteers of America, which operates the program. It’s based in a tranquil, leafy and gentrifying neighborhood of families and young professionals a short walk from a doughnut shop, a grocery store and multiple bus lines. (Holland, 3/31)

Boston Globe: With Health Care Bill, Baker Is Diving Into A Policy Fight He Knows Well
After closed-door talks crumbled last summer, Beacon Hill is hitting reset on its pursuit of sweeping health care legislation, with one major difference: This time, Governor Charlie Baker, a former health insurance executive, will push his own plan. His proposal, expected to be unveiled this spring, would come almost a year after the House and Senate couldn’t reconcile controversial and drastically different versions of legislation designed to buttress community hospitals and rein in medical spending statewide. (Stout and Dayal McCluskey, 3/31)

The New York Times: With Guns Drawn, Officers Raided Home To Get Feverish Child
With guns drawn, the police officers broke down the door of the suburban Phoenix home in the early hours of a February morning. “Come out with your hands up!” an officer yelled, with the dark front porch and foyer inside suddenly flooded with light from the officers’ flashlights. The target of the raid: an unvaccinated 2-year-old boy with a high fever. (Hassan, 3/29)

The Washington Post: Creativity Festival Held At Smithsonian
The acronym STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering and math, probably rings a bell. But do you know what SEAD means? After attending ACCelerate: ACC Smithsonian Creativity and Innovation Festival, a free event that runs Friday through Sunday, you just might. The acronym stands for science, engineering, arts and design — a vibrant collision of disciplines with the potential to change technology and stimulate creativity and innovation. (Blakemore, 3/30)

KQED: Trial Begins: Livermore Couple Alleges Monsanto’s Roundup Caused Cancer
Just one day after a federal jury decided that Monsanto must pay $80 million in damages to a Santa Rosa man, and less than a year after a state jury awarded $300 million in damages to a Vallejo groundskeeper in a similar case, opening statements were delivered Thursday in a new trial involving Monsanto in Alameda County Superior Court. This time, it’s the case of Alva and Alberta Pilliod, a Livermore couple in their 70s who used Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup on their three Northern California properties for more than 30 years. (Wolffe, 3/29)

Modern Healthcare: Fresenius Pays $231 Million To Resolve Federal Bribery Charges
Kidney-care giant Fresenius has agreed to pay $231 million to resolve federal criminal allegations that it paid bribes to officials to win business in Angola and Saudi Arabia and willfully failed to maintain records on transactions in those countries and others. "Fresenius doled out millions of dollars in bribes across the globe to gain a competitive advantage in the medical services industry, profiting to the tune of over $140 million," assistant Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said, citing alleged Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations by the company between 2007 and 2016. (Meyer, 3/29)

Nashville Tennessean: Tennova Lebanon: Vanderbilt To Buy Middle Tennessee Hospital From Community Health Network
Vanderbilt University Medical Center will purchase Tennova Healthcare-Lebanon, a 245-bed hospital in Wilson County, VUMC announced Friday. The purchase is set to include the two-campus facility, including related businesses like physician clinic operations and outpatient services, to VUMC.  Formerly known as University Medical Hospital, Tennova Healthcare-Lebanon became part of the Tennova hospital network in 2016. Tennova is owned by Community Health Systems, Inc., which announced several planned divestitures in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to a release from the company. (Timms, 3/29)

The Hill: LGBT Group Sues Arizona Over Law Barring HIV, AIDS Instruction In Schools 
An LGBT rights group filed a lawsuit against Arizona this week over the state's prevention on HIV and AIDS education that “promotes a homosexual life-style.” Equality Arizona and an unnamed student argue in court that the state's 1991 law discriminates against LGBT students and puts their health at risk. (Frazin, 3/30)

KCUR: Fixing Crooked Teeth Is Not Just About Looks: Kansas City Nonprofit Seeks To Change Lives 
The Kansas City-based non-profit is devoted to the idea that fixing misaligned teeth and cross bites is not just an aesthetic frill for the self-involved, but a necessity for proper digestion and speaking, says co-founder Tom Brown. And, just as important, the newfound confidence of kids who had been teased about their teeth helps them succeed in a competitive world. Unlike other non-profits that target the lowest income groups, Smiles Change Lives sets its sights on people who fit under the umbrella of “working families” – the police officers, teachers, single parents and foster caregivers for whom braces, especially for more than one child, are often out of reach. (Hammill, 3/31)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: State-Wide Hepatitis A Outbreak Is Expected To Last Another Year
Ohio should brace for a second year of a hepatitis A outbreak that has killed seven Ohioans and hospitalized more than 1,000 since 2018, health officials said recently. The state declared a hepatitis A outbreak in June 2018 when it saw the number of cases rise to 79, which is nearly double the yearly average, said Sietske de Fijter, state epidemiologist with the Ohio Department of Health. (Washington, 3/29)

Bloomberg: Houston Fire Chemical Plant: Disaster Zone Remains No-Go 
Two weeks after a chemical storage complex near Houston erupted in flames and menaced tens of thousands of people with dangerous fumes, the site remains too hazardous for investigators to approach. Intercontinental Terminal Co. is still trying to drain millions of gallons of volatile oil byproducts from tanks damaged in the four-day blaze that began on March 17. The ground around the tanks is also saturated in dangerous fluids, severely restricting access to the facility 20 miles (32 kilometers) east of downtown Houston. On Friday, the company said they may be able to allow some access early this week. (Carroll and Crowley, 3/31)

California Healthline: Heavy Rains, End Of Drought Could Help Keep West Nile Virus Subdued — For Now
The end of California’s drought, announced earlier this month amid one of the rainiest winters in memory, could offer a surprising benefit: reduced transmission of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus. Longer term, however, more severe droughts associated with climate change could contribute to an increase in the number of infections in the state and nationally. Drought is the most important weather-related factor that affects the rate of West Nile infection, researchers say. Even though mosquito eggs need water to hatch, dry conditions tend to spur greater transmission of the virus. (Rowan, 3/29)

The Oregonian: Flu Season Came Late This Year, Primarily Affecting Older Oregonians 
Oregon is experiencing an unusually late flu season that’s primarily affecting people older than 50, according to reports from the Oregon Health Authority. Of the 144 cases of influenza reported in the Portland metro area this week, about 100 of them occurred in people over the age of 50. Almost 60 of those were 65 or older. (Campuzano, 3/30)

Boston Globe: Urgent Care Chain To Pay $2M Settlement In Billing Probe
CareWell Urgent Care, a fast-growing chain of walk-in clinics, will pay $2 million to settle allegations that it gave patients overly thorough exams and then billed government insurers for the unnecessary care. The investigation by the Massachusetts and Rhode Island attorneys general and the US attorney in Boston was prompted by a whistle-blower complaint filed by a former CareWell nurse practitioner. (Kowalczyk, 3/29)

San Jose Mercury News: East Bay Critics Blast Area Emergency Housing Plan
More than 120 people at a town hall meeting Thursday night heard criticism of Bay Area emergency policies to address the housing crisis — known as the CASA Compact — that speakers maintained could lead to higher-density housing structures, alter the city’s population and semi-rural character, and take local control out of the hands of city officials. Dennis Richards, a San Francisco Planning Commission member and one of the speakers, gave a detailed criticism of SB 50 by state Sen. Scott Weiner, D-San Francisco, saying the bill “will have the biggest impact on your lives since Prop. 13,” and could potentially lead to housing that would double or triple Orinda’s population and affect all its neighborhoods. (Kawamoto, 3/29)

NH Times Union: Elliot Health System Bond Rating Improves After Joining Forces 
SolutioNHealth, a regional health care system encompassing the Elliot and Southern New Hampshire Health systems, received a “stable outlook” and an “A-” rating from S&P Global Ratings. Both Elliot Health System and Southern New Hampshire Health also received “A-” ratings with a “stable” outlook, according to S&P. (Cousineau, 3/29)

Health News Florida: Lawmakers Look At Limiting Marijuana Highs
The House is considering a proposal that would cap THC levels in medical marijuana at 10 percent, Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, said in an interview with The News Service of Florida. No bill has been filed, and Rodrigues, who’s shepherded medical-marijuana legislation in the House since low-THC cannabis was first authorized in 2014, said legislation is still “up in the air.” (Kam, 3/29)