State Highlights: Search Intensifies For Rare Blood Type For Miami Toddler Fighting Cancer; Residents At Georgia Bases Fear Groundwater Is Still Unsafe

The New York Times: Donors Of Rare Blood Type Sought To Save A Miami Toddler
Zainab Mughal, a 2-year-old girl from Miami, needs blood transfusions for her cancer treatment but she has a blood type so rare that so far only four donors worldwide have been identified. In August, doctors determined Zainab had neuroblastoma, a cancer that develops from immature nerve cells and most commonly occurs in young children. Frequent blood transfusions are required for Zainab’s treatment, but finding enough blood has been a challenge because she is missing the Indian-B antigen, a molecule found on the surface of most people’s red blood cells. (Caron, 1/6)

The Associated Press: Some Fear Groundwater Near Georgia Military Bases Is Toxic
Groundwater near Georgia military bases remains contaminated from a toxic firefighting foam used for decades by the U.S. Air Force, prompting fears among residents about their exposure to the chemicals. Recent tests at Georgia's three air bases show extensive environmental contamination of groundwater, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. (1/5)

The Wall Street Journal: In Age Of Mass Shootings, Boy Scout Projects Hope To Keep Schools Safe
Boy Scouts’ projects to earn the coveted Eagle Scout rank have long been wholesome efforts to clean up parks, build bike racks and give blankets to the needy. But in an age of fear of school shootings, some have a new focus: preparing for armed killers. Andrew Leccese, a 17-year-old senior at Glen Ridge High School in New Jersey, wants his small suburban school district to be ready for such an attack and other emergencies. He raised money to give its four schools bleeding-control kits this month so that in a crisis staff could try to keep gunshot victims from bleeding to death while waiting for professional rescue teams. (Brody, 1/6)

The New York Times: 2 Mental Health Patients Drowned In A Sheriff’s Van During Florence. Now The Deputies Face Charges.
Two former sheriff’s deputies in South Carolina were charged on Friday in the deaths of two mental health patients who became trapped in a van and drowned during Hurricane Florence. The deputy who was driving the van, Stephen Flood, 66, was charged with two counts of reckless homicide and two counts of involuntary manslaughter after the authorities said he disregarded travel instructions and drove into floodwaters. (Mervosh, 1/4)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Auditor Finds Changes To Home Health Care Saved Far Less Than Expected
Controversial changes to Missouri's home health-services program by former Gov. Eric Greitens and the Republican-controlled Legislature saved only one fourth of the $43 million lawmakers had expected, according a state audit. The Republican governor and state lawmakers didn’t take rising costs and sicker patients into account, concluded the report from State Auditor Nicole Galloway, a Democrat. (Fentem, 1/7)

The Washington Post: New Hearts Forge New Friendship For Transplant Recipients
A suburban Detroit woman and South Side Chicago man are recovering in a Chicago hospital following rare triple transplant surgeries that gave them the healthy heart, liver and kidney each needed — and a new friendship they never expected. University of Chicago Medicine doctors announced Friday that they successfully completed the triple organ transplants on Sarah McPharlin, a 29-year-old woman of Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan, and Daru Smith, a 29-year-old father from Chicago’s South Side, within 30 hours of one another. (Seitz, 1/4)

The New York Times: 11-Year-Old Boy’s Death In Brooklyn May Have Been Caused By Airborne Fish Proteins
An 11-year-old boy who died on New Year’s Day after visiting family members in Brooklyn may have had a fatal reaction to fish proteins released into the air while his relatives cooked. The sixth grader, Cameron Jean-Pierre, had asthma and was allergic to fish and peanuts, his father, Steven Jean-Pierre, said on Thursday in an interview with WABC. (Caron, 1/5)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: High-Quality Pre-K Doesn’t Get Most Lead-Poisoned Children Ready For Kindergarten
Looking at children who attended high quality preschool for at least 18 months (a “high dose”) among more than 35,000 Cleveland and 11 inner-ring suburban kindergartners, the researchers found that children with a history of lead exposure above the threshold of concern set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were half as likely as their peers to score “on track” in language and literacy when they reach kindergarten. The CDC’s threshold, 5 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, is the level at which public health actions should be taken, including education of parents on how to minimize exposure, follow-up testing, and routine dietary and developmental monitoring. (Zeltner, 1/6)

New Hampshire Public Radio: N.H. DES Says New PFAS Standards Could Cost Millions; Advocates Want Stricter Limits
The state’s public water systems might have to pay millions of dollars to comply with new proposed limits on certain industrial chemicals in drinking water – even as advocates say the proposals aren’t strict enough. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services released new details Friday on proposed standards for four likely harmful PFAS chemicals – known as PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS and PFNA. (Ropeik, 1/4)

Kansas City Star: Missouri’s Two Rivers Psychiatric Hospital Closing Feb. 9
A private psychiatric hospital in southeast Kansas City is closing, resulting in 105 fewer mental health beds in the city and 129 laid off employees. Two Rivers Behavioral Health System, 5121 Raytown Road announced it will close Feb. 9 — at a time when both Kansas and Missouri are dealing with shortages in mental health care. (Marso, 1/4)

Kaiser Health News: After Bitter Closure, Rural Texas Hospital Defies The Norm And Reopens
Five months ago, the 6,500 residents of Crockett, Texas, witnessed a bit of a resurrection — at least in rural hospital terms. A little more than a year after the local hospital shut its doors, the 25-bed facility reopened its emergency department, inpatient beds and some related services, albeit on a smaller scale. (Huff, 1/7)

Sacramento Bee: Who Are New CalPERS Board Members?
The board that oversees the nation’s largest public pension fund will get at least three new faces in 2019, marking unusual turnover at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. Two of the newcomers were decided in recent elections. Gov. Jerry Brown this week created a third vacancy when he removed CalPERS board member Richard Costigan from the pension fund. (Ashton, 1/7)

San Jose Mercury News: California Insurance Commissioner Hires Ex-Lobbyist For Company Being Investigated
One of two people leading state Sen. Ricardo Lara’s transition as California’s newly elected Insurance Commissioner worked until last month as the Sacramento lobbyist for a major drug maker that is the subject of an investigation by the Department of Insurance that Lara soon will head. (Morain, 1/6)

The Oregonian: Measles Patient Visited Hood River, The Dalles Area
A case of measles has led health authorities to a select group of people in Hood River and The Dalles. The person with measles visited the OHSU Hospital emergency room in Portland on Wednesday. The virus was confirmed Thursday. The infected person traveled from out of the county to Hood River and The Dalles. Since diagnosis, the person has taken recommended precautions not to continue to spread the highly contagious virus. (Harbarger, 1/4)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Two Flu Deaths In Cuyahoga County Reported Amid Uptick In Cases, Hospitalizations
Two Cuyahoga County residents died of flu-related illness in the past week, amid an uptick in flu cases, emergency room visits and hospitalizations, the County Board of Health reported today. A 52-year old Cleveland man and a 76-year-old Broadview Heights man died. There have been no pediatric deaths in Ohio so far this flu season, and 13 children have died of flu nationwide. (Zeltner, 1/4)

Health News Florida: Transgender Inmate Care Spurs Appeals Court Fight
Attorneys for a transgender inmate and the Florida Department of Corrections are battling in a federal appeals court about whether the state’s treatment of the inmate violated her constitutional rights. The Department of Corrections took the case to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in September after U.S. District Judge Mark Walker sided with inmate Reiyn Keohane, who contends that her rights have been violated, at least in part because she has not been allowed to wear women’s undergarments and groom as a woman. (Saunders, 1/4)

KCUR: North Kansas City-Based Hospital Network Falls Behind On Payroll And Other Payments 
Rural hospitals affiliated with North Kansas City-based EmpowerHMS are struggling to meet their financial obligations, leaving employees and vendors holding the bag. Various news outlets have reported that EmpowerHMS hospitals in Kansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Arkansas have failed to meet payroll or defaulted on their rent and utility payments. (Margolies, 1/4)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Orleans School Board Joins Program To Support Students’ Mental Health 
The Orleans Parish School Board on Friday (Jan. 4) announced a new partnership designed to address gaps in mental health support for New Orleans public school students. The OPSB will work with the Center for Resilience, previously known as the New Orleans Therapeutic Day Program, to expand mental health services to children in grades 9-12, according to a news release. The agencies will also explore the feasibility of launching a residential group home to serve students, the release said. (Nobles, 1/4)