State Highlights: Vegas Hospital Response After Shooting Confused Responders, Report Says; CDC Aids Ohio In Studying Youth Suicides

The Associated Press: Vegas Hospital Advisory After Mass Shooting Draws Scrutiny
A review of medical responses after the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history in Las Vegas found confusion led to a fire department broadcast that the only top-tier regional trauma center was too full to accept any more victims of the attack, a newspaper reported Monday. The problem began when University Medical Center called an "internal disaster" alert following the Oct. 1 shooting at an open-air concert venue on the Las Vegas Strip, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. (4/2)

The Associated Press: CDC To Review Ohio County's Recent Spate Of Youth Suicides
Health officials dealing with a spate of youth suicides in a northeastern Ohio county are getting help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials say five students and one former student from the Perry Local School District in Stark County killed themselves within a six-month period from 2017 into 2018, spurring vigils, prevention efforts, community meetings and discussion about a possible contagion effect. (4/2)

The Washington Post: Sewage And Water Leaks In Hospital Operating Rooms Reported In New Lawsuit
Persistent water and sewage leaks in and around the operating rooms of Washington’s largest hospital are at the center of a lawsuit seeking millions in damages in the infection-related death of a retired Northern Virginia schoolteacher. The lawsuit comes after D.C. health inspectors last year found that MedStar Washington Hospital Center had not ensured a safe, sterile environment for patients. Investigators reported at least seven sewage leaks during an 11-month period, and during a tour last summer described a “black, grainy, foul smelling substance” on the floor between two operating rooms. (Marimow, Jamison and Hermann, 4/2)

Boston Globe: Baker Signs Medical Privacy Law
Governor Charlie Baker has signed legislation to give Massachusetts consumers more privacy over their medical information. The law requires health insurers to send forms containing information about medical treatments to the patient who received the care — not to the policyholder. (McCluskey, 4/2)

KCUR: Overland Park Radiation Clinic Linked To Companies That Settled Kickback Charges
Two dozen companies recently settled accusations by the federal government that they paid kickbacks in return for referrals. Two of those companies have ties to an Overland Park radiation oncology clinic. SL Kansas City Leasing, LLC and Sightline Kansas City Holdings, LLC were among the defendants that agreed to pay up to $11.5 million to settle allegations they violated the Anti-Kickback Statute. ... The government intervened in the case after it was filed by a whistleblower in 2016. According to the recently unsealed complaint, Sightline approached physicians in cities where it established radiation clinics and enticed them to invest in ventures that leased space to the clinics. (Margolies, 4/2)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: N.H. Insurance Website Allows Comparisons Of Hospitals, Lacks Info On Clinics
A New Hampshire website comparing cost and quality at the state’s health care facilities has made it easier to do the comparison – as long as you’re comparing hospitals rather than urgent care centers or walk-in facilities. Those non-hospital facilities have become increasingly popular in recent years and perform an growing percentage of health care procedures, but at the long-running website NHHealthCost.org you can only compare their costs, not their quality. (Brooks, 4/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Beds For Mentally Ill Homeless That SF Mayor Farrell Promised Still Not Ready
Still waiting: Earlier this month, Mayor Mark Farrell announced the opening of 54 new psychiatric beds at St. Mary’s Medical Center on Stanyan Street to help mentally ill homeless people. But the beds aren’t ready yet, according to the Department of Public Health. (Swan, 4/2)

Chicago Tribune: Advocate Health Care Finalizes Merger With Wisconsin Hospital System 
A merger between Downers Grove-based Advocate Health Care and Wisconsin’s Aurora Health Care became official Sunday, creating the 10th-largest not-for-profit hospital system in the country. The new combined system, called Advocate Aurora Health, has 27 hospitals and about $11 billion in annual revenue. The merged system will keep dual headquarters in Illinois and Wisconsin. (Schencker, 4/2)

Wyoming Public Radio: Colorado's Teen Birth Rate Decline Coincides With Better IUD Access
Teen birth rates have been going down for a while now but in one mountain west state -- Colorado -- they’ve gone down more than the rest of the nation. Could it be related to the national trend of kids having less sex or an attempt to make IUDs more accessible? (Budner, 4/2)

Sacramento Bee: CA Governor Candidate Pushes Institutions For Homeless
Republican gubernatorial candidate Travis Allen says he'd build state-run institutions and force homeless people to live in them against their will, if necessary. ...Allen, currently in the state Assembly, is pushing the idea as part of his platform in public debates, interviews and newspaper editorial board meetings. (Hart, 4/3)

Houston Chronicle: Memorial Hermann Katy Home For Future Sports Medicine Center 
A sports medicine complex set to open next year in Katy will offer a "one stop shopping" approach for the health of athletes. On March 29, officials with Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital and Athletic Training and Health broke ground at the $15 million Memorial Hermann Sports Park - Katy. "This unique collaboration between Memorial Hermann and (Athletic Training and Health) will benefit the full range of athletes in our community, from high school students to professional competitors, weekend warriors and beyond," said Heath Rushing, Memorial Hermann Katy's chief executive officer. (Glenn, 4/2)

Kaiser Health News: Psychiatrist Stays Close To Home And True To Her Childhood Promise
Dr. Yamanda Edwards, the daughter of a truck driver and a stay-at-home mom, grew up just a few miles from Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center, at the time an iconic yet troubled hospital in South Los Angeles. As a child in the 1990s, she knew little of its history — how it rose from the ashes of the Watts riots. And she knew no one in the medical profession. (Gorman, 4/3)

Dallas Morning News: UT Southwestern Cancer Research Gets $28 Million Booster Shot
Texas' cancer-fighting agency is pumping $27.8 million into research of breast, prostate, brain and other forms of cancers in North Texas, as well as creation of lung and liver cancer screening programs in underserved areas. More than a dozen UT Southwestern researchers received grants in the latest round of funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2007 to create a $3 billion cancer-fighting fund. (O'Donnell, 4/2)