Investigators Criticize Hospital Over Power Outage: A power outage that forced hundreds of patients to be evacuated at Adventist Health White Memorial in Boyle Heights last summer was the result of lapses in maintaining the facility, a “deficient practice” that could put patients at risk, state investigators found. Read more from the Los Angeles Times.
Axios: ERs See Return of Medical School Graduates
New doctors' interest in emergency medicine is rebounding after the field became the embodiment of professional burnout during the pandemic. New data out Friday from The National Resident Matching Program shows medical school graduates are continuing to choose higher-paying specialties like orthopedic surgery, ophthalmology, thoracic surgery and radiology. (Goldman, 3/15)
The Washington Post: Shortage of Doctors Specializing in Elderly Care as America Ages
Pat Early, 66, has lived with the autoimmune disease Sjogren’s syndrome since her 30s. She must rely on a stable of specialists — a rheumatologist, gastroenterologist, endocrinologist, ophthalmologist and the like — to manage the fatigue, muscle pain and other complications of the disease, all helmed by her longtime primary-care doctor. When that doctor started cutting back his staff, she began searching for someone new and stumbled across a medical practice of geriatricians — doctors who specialize in patients over age 65. Early didn’t consider herself old, so “it never even crossed my mind that that’s something I should be looking at,” she said. But she’s grateful for the switch. (Stern, 3/17)
Modern Healthcare: ACHE Identifies Staffing Shortages as Leading Issue for Hospitals in 2023
Workforce challenges remain the top worry of hospital CEOs, according to a survey by the American College of Healthcare Executives. A shortage of technicians and nurses and burnout among non-physician workers were the most pressing issues related to staffing, according to the group's survey of 241 CEOs at community hospitals last fall. The survey asked participants to rank hospital industry challenges on an 11-point scale in terms of how pressing they were. (DeSilva, 3/20)
New PBS Documentary Explores U.S. Public Health: 'Public Health Saved Your Life Today, Unbeknownst to You' “The Invisible Shield,” a new four-part documentary that begins March 26, explores the rise and successes of public health, as well as factors that threaten it. The PBS series features experts from across the public health field. Learn more and watch the trailer.
Capital & Main: Nurses Union Criticizes State Watchdog for Inadequate Investigation of Staffing Crisis
Pediatric nurses at the UC Davis Medical Center say they are in the midst of a staffing crisis, a claim the health system flatly denies. Nurses at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center report severe overcrowding and patients sometimes placed in hallways in the emergency department for days, which UCLA says it has received waivers from the state to allow. Neither concern has been addressed to nurses’ satisfaction at the local level. That’s not uncommon; it’s one reason they’re represented by a union. But when the union and the hospitals still can’t agree on the issues, the cases escalate to the state level. That’s where it gets fuzzy. (Kreidler, 3/21)
Fresno Bee: Fresno Councilmembers Call for Probe into 'Excessive' Executive Pay at Valley Children's
After learning of the $5 million-plus annual compensation for the CEO of Valley Children’s Hospital, two Fresno City Councilmembers called a press conference to demand a state investigation into the nonprofit hospital’s finances. (Galicia, 3/20)
Axios: UnitedHealth Cyberattack Reveals Gaps in Doctors' Cyber Insurance
Many health care providers struggling to get paid after the hack of a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary are still trying to figure out if their cyberattack insurance will help cover their losses. (Reed, 3/21)
CalMatters: L.A. Family Sues Hospital Over Life-Altering Injuries, Citing Nurse Shortage
An emergency trip to the hospital turned disastrous for a Los Angeles-area family when Joshua Saeta’s condition deteriorated, leaving him permanently incapacitated. In a lawsuit, the family says nurses later told them the hospital was dangerously understaffed. (Hwang, 3/19)
KQED: Newsom Celebrates Proposition 1 Victory After Weeks of Sleepless Nights
Gov. Gavin Newsom celebrated the passage of Proposition 1 on Thursday after his ambitious proposal to reshape care for Californians grappling with behavioral health issues and homelessness won narrow approval from voters following more than two weeks of vote counting. “Change has its enemies, change is tough, change is hard,” Newsom said at a press conference in Los Angeles. “These have been a few long weeks, sleepless weeks.” (Marzorati, 3/21)
Los Angeles Blade: Padilla and FCC Introduce Bill to Enhance 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), joined by U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, introduced a measure on Thursday to improve the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Calls are currently routed to mental health professionals and local public safety officials based on the caller’s area code — even though, as the lawmakers and officials noted during their announcement — in many cases, the area code, especially for cell phone numbers, does not match the location from which they are calling. (Kane, 3/21)
Axios: Research Suggests Screen Time Contributes to Kids' Mental Health Crisis
A shocking number of American kids are sad, suicidal and stuck on small screens sucking away their zest for life. This is the indisputable and alarming trend among American children, based on the latest polling and deep research by an NYU professor in a book out next week. (Pandey, 3/22)
Los Angeles Times: San Bernardino County Faces Claim from Family of 15-Year-Old with Autism Fatally Shot by Deputies
The family of Ryan Gainer, a 15-year-old boy with autism who was shot and killed by San Bernardino County sheriff‘s deputies outside his Apple Valley home this month, has filed a wrongful death claim against the county, attorneys announced during a news conference on Thursday. The claim, which signals that the family plans to sue the county, says legal action could focus on allegations of assault, battery, false imprisonment, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Fry and Campa, 3/21)
Proposition 1 Officially Passes with a Narrow Margin: The results are finally in, and Californians have voted in favor of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest effort to overhaul how the state cares for people with serious mental illness. AP on Wednesday declared that the measure passed 50.2% to 49.8%. Read more from CalMatters, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Blade: Legislation Introduced to Support At-Risk LGBTQ Youth with Pride In Mental Health Act
U.S. Sens. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced the Pride in Mental Health Act on Thursday, legislation that would strengthen resources in mental health and crisis intervention for at-risk LGBTQ youth.“ Accessing mental health care and support has become increasingly difficult in nearly every state in the country,” said Butler, who is the first Black LGBTQ senator. “Barriers get even more difficult if you are a young person who lacks a supportive community or is fearful of being outed, harassed, or threatened.” (Kane, 3/18)
Collision Between California’s Expanded Health Coverage for Immigrants and Medicaid Reviews
A state policy to extend Medi-Cal to qualified Californians without legal residency is running up against a federal requirement to resume eligibility checks. The redetermination process is causing many Latinos, who make up a majority of Medi-Cal beneficiaries, to be disenrolled. (Jasmine Aguilera, El Tímpano, 3/21)
CNN: Report Finds 32% Higher Likelihood of Pulse Oximeter Readings Overestimating Oxygen Levels in People with Darker Skin
Scientists have long known that pulse oximeters are less accurate when used for people with dark skin tones – and now, a new report offers some insight into just how much more inaccurate these fingertip clamps can be. (Howard, 3/20)
Axios: Study Suggests Doctors Less Responsive to Emails from Black Patients
Black patients at large health systems may be less likely than white patients to get responses from doctors to emailed questions, a new JAMA Network Open study suggests. (Goldman, 3/21)
CalMatters: California's Efforts to Support Schools with Vulnerable Students: Successes and Shortcomings
A decade after California revolutionized the way it funds schools, nearly everyone agrees the initiative has done what it was meant to do: improved math and reading scores and brought more resources to students who struggle the most. And nearly everyone also agrees that the Local Control Funding Formula, as it’s known, could use a tune-up. Black and Latino students’ test scores have improved but still lag behind their white and Asian peers, and schools in affluent areas still spend far more per student than schools in poorer neighborhoods. (Jones, 3/20)
CIDRAP: CDC Reports Hepatitis-Related Deaths of 8 U.S. Children from 2021 to 2023, Possibly Linked to Adenovirus
Yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers described the cases of eight US children who died of acute hepatitis of unknown cause—half of whom tested positive for adenovirus—from October 2021 to June 2023. (Van Beusekom, 3/20)
HealthDay: Nutritional Quality of Household Foods Declines as Babies Transition to Toddlers
Over the first few years of a child's life, foods found in a family's fridge and cupboards tends to get less healthy, new research shows. “We found significant changes in several food categories over time," said study lead author Jennifer Barton. "Food items such as non-whole grains, processed meats, savory snacks, candy and microwavable or quick-cook foods were more commonly available in the home at 48 months [of age] compared to 24 and 36 months." The study, which tracked foods in the homes of 468 mother-child pairs in Illinois, was published recently in the journal Public Health Nutrition. (3/18)
CNN: FDA Approves Costly Therapy for Rare Genetic Disease in Children
The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the first therapy for a rare and devastating condition called metachromatic leukodystrophy, which typically kills affected children before they turn 7. The one-time treatment, called Lenmeldy, takes stem cells from someone with MLD and uses a harmless virus to insert working copies of a faulty gene. The repaired cells are then infused back to the patient, where they begin to produce an enzyme that’s lacking in children who have the disease. (Goodman, 3/19)
CNN: New Report Predicts Steep Decline in Global Fertility Rates in the Decades Ahead
A new study projects that global fertility rates, which have been declining in all countries since 1950, will continue to plummet through the end of the century, resulting in a profound demographic shift. (Cheng, 3/20)
Capital & Main: Popular California Program Providing Produce to Low-Income Families Faces Funding Shortfall
Macaria Palacios lives in Compton, where she regularly shops at Mother’s Nutritional Center, a small grocery store dedicated to serving low-income households enrolled in food assistance programs. She buys apples, broccoli, nopales (edible cactus) and spinach through a state program that provides an instant rebate from the purchase of fruits and vegetables. The program allows her to stretch her money and use the fresh produce to manage her diabetes without taking medicine.“Ayuda mucha que no tiene comprar,” she said in Spanish, explaining the program helps many who otherwise could not afford fresh fruits and vegetables. (Sanchez-Tello, 3/18)
The 19th: Biden Signs Largest-Ever Executive Order Focused on Women's Health
President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order directing the most comprehensive set of actions ever taken by the president’s office to expand and improve research on women’s health. In a statement, the president and First Lady Jill Biden also announced more than 20 new actions and commitments by a wide range of federal agencies for research on issues that emerge across a woman’s lifespan, from maternal health outcomes and mental health challenges to autoimmune diseases and menopause. (Gerson, 3/18)