State Highlights: Texas Ordered To Relieve ‘Crushing’ Workloads Of Those Who Oversee Foster Care Program; Connecticut To Boost Mental Health Parity Regulations

Dallas Morning News: Texas Must Alleviate 'Crushing' Foster Care Caseworker Workloads, Appeals Court Rules
Texas will have to submit to a federal court’s supervision of plans for relieving the “crushing” workloads of Child Protective Services caseworkers who track foster children, a federal appeals court has ruled. U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack of Corpus Christi and her court-appointed monitors also must sign off on the state protective-services agency’s studies that are designed to reduce workloads of residential child-care licensing investigators and inspectors, the appellate judges agreed. (Garrett, 7/8)

The CT Mirror: Mental Health Parity Bill Signed Into Law
Beginning in 2021, Connecticut insurance providers will have to submit annual reports detailing their coverage of mental health and substance abuse services. The push toward greater transparency is aimed at ensuring the companies comply with state and federal mandates that bar them from placing greater restrictions on access to mental health services than on surgical or medical care. (Carlesso, 7/8)

Los Angeles Times: UCLA Has Paid More Than $3.5 Million In Settlements Over Former Gynecologist
A patient who alleged she was sexually assaulted by a UCLA Health gynecologist was awarded $2.25 million in a settlement finalized last month with the University of California regents, according to university records released Monday. The patient’s accusation stemmed from a February 2018 appointment with Dr. James M. Heaps. Heaps was charged in early June with sexual battery and exploitation in connection with his treatment of two patients — including the woman whose claim was settled last month. (Cosgrove, Watanabe and Winton, 7/8)

North Carolina Health News: A New Treatment Could Benefit Vets With PTSD And Brain Injury, Lawmakers Want Insurers To Reimburse For It 
Veterans who have had brain injuries or are struggling with the effects of trauma may soon have a new treatment option if a new bill making its way through the legislature eventually becomes law. On Tuesday, a Senate Health Care ommittee greenlighted House Bill 50, the North Carolina Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment and Recovery Act which would allow medical professionals to prescribe hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, to North Carolina veterans who have had traumatic brain injuries and/or have post-traumatic stress disorder. (Davis, 7/9)

New Hampshire Public Radio: New Hampshire To Form Commission On Aging Issues
New Hampshire passed a law last week forming a commission to advocate for the needs of its aging population. The Granite State has the second oldest population in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (Ernst, 7/8)

Modern Healthcare: Local Government, Rennova Tussle Over Shuttered Tenn. Hospital's Fate
Even as Rennova Health's CEO vows to reopen the rural Tennessee hospital he was forced to close last month, local government officials are working up an extreme contingency plan: opening their own facility. "People's health is in danger because of stubbornness," Fentress County Executive Jimmy Johnson said. "That's all it is." Leadership closed Jamestown (Tenn.) Regional Medical Center the day after the CMS revoked its Medicare billing privileges in June for accumulating more than $4 million in unpaid bills, lacking key supplies and keeping money from employees' paychecks. (Bannow, 7/8)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tony Evers Finds More Cash For Facilities To Replace Lincoln Hills
Gov. Tony Evers used vetoes to funnel more funding toward facilities that will replace the state's juvenile prison, but he says he may need more time and money to get them built. The state under a recently approved law is required to close Lincoln Hills School for Boys by July 2021. But Evers said he may need more time, even with the additional money he secured for the new facilities with his vetoes. (Marley, 7/8)

Georgia Health News: Backlog Of Nursing Home Complaints, Inspections Linked To RN Vacancies
State regulators have a backlog of about 200 complaints against nursing homes that need investigation, officials say. A high number of job vacancies for nurse surveyors is a major cause of the complaint backlog, according to the state Department of Community Health. (Miller, 7/8)

The Star Tribune: Sanford Health Seeks Iowa Merger To Create $11 Billion Health System 
Sanford Health is exploring a merger with Des Moines-based UnityPoint Health to create a large health system that includes dozens of hospitals and nursing homes plus hundreds of medical clinics across six states including Minnesota. Leaders of the two groups signed a letter of intent last month to explore the merger, which they said would create a nonprofit company with more than $11 billion in annual revenue that would rank among the top 15 largest nonprofit health systems in the country. (Snowbeck, 7/9)

The CT Mirror: Whiting Task Force Bemoans Psychiatric Hospital's Condition
The eight-member task force publicly aired impressions of their visit to the embattled facility on Monday afternoon, meeting for the fourth time since lawmakers approved the committee’s formation following allegations that staff abused kicked, hit and tormented a patient in 2017. Describing the state’s only maximum security psychiatric hospital, Lawlor said the diamond-shaped, two-floor building has narrow corridors and lacks natural sunlight. Others said the infrastructure is not well maintained, and the furniture looked decades old. (Lyons, 7/8)

The CT Mirror: Connecticut Sees 'Emerging Threat' In PFAS Chemicals
Connecticut is joining the growing list of states no longer willing to wait for the federal Environmental Protection Agency to study and make recommendations for how to respond to an emerging environmental threat from a class of 4,700 ubiquitous chemicals collectively known as PFAS substances. Gov. Ned Lamont announced the creation of an inter-agency task force Monday to develop an action plan on how to measure and address pollution from the chemical class known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — a threat largely unknown to the public here until a spill of firefighting foam last month at Bradley International Airport. (Pazniokas, 7/8)

The Advocate: $3.7M Grant For Alzheimer's Research And Training At LSU, Ochsner
A 5-year $3.7 million federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to LSU's School of Social Work is funding research and training to teach social workers, nurses and doctors how to work with geriatric patients in Louisiana. The grant is going to a partnership among LSU, Ochsner Health System, Chamberlain University College of Nursing and  nonprofit Alzheimer's Services of the Capital Area. (Mosbrucker, 7/8)

Los Angeles Times: California Senate Approves Newsom Bill To Protect Utilities From Wildfire Costs
There’s been no shortage of criticism for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to help California’s largest utilities stave off bankruptcy from costs associated with wildfires: No focus on prevention efforts. More difficulty proving utility negligence. Too much of the financial burden falling on millions of utility customers. The governor, six months into his first year in office, managed to overcome some of those complaints with a Senate vote of approval Monday. But he still faces a crucial test this week as he attempts to convince the rest of the California Legislature to ratify a multibillion-dollar utility wildfire fund before lawmakers leave Sacramento for a one-month recess. (Luna, 7/8)

Tampa Bay Times: Bayfront Health St. Petersburg Hires New CEO
Bayfront Health St. Petersburg has hired a new CEO five months after its previous chief executive resigned suddenly. Sharon Hayes will take the helm at St. Petersburg's oldest and largest hospital beginning July 15. She was previously the CEO of Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point in Hudson, where she's worked since Feb. 2018. (Griffin, 7/8)