Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Florida, Connecticut Brace For Caregiver Shortages As Haitian TPS Ends
On Monday, the Trump administration ended the Temporary Protected Status once offered to Haitian immigrants. With the end of TPS, comes the end of the employment authorization for those Haitian immigrants. (Pedersen, 7/28)
Elected officials gathered with immigrant advocates and staff of a Manchester nursing home on Tuesday to bring attention to how the revocation of Temporary Protective Status from Haitians in Connecticut will affect the state鈥檚 workforce and residents, specifically in the healthcare industry. (Tillman, 7/28)
On heat and health 鈥
Going for nearly a year with broken heating and air conditioning has been miserable for Ashley Matthews. But the last few months have been unbearable 鈥 and potentially dangerous. Matthews, 27, is six months pregnant with her third child. (Paffenroth and Kenen, 7/28)
New Orleans is facing dangerously hot conditions. With no rain and clear conditions expected throughout much of the week, temperatures are hovering in the mid-90s. Heat indices, or 鈥渇eels like鈥 temperatures聽 in and around the city could soar to 115 degrees聽 on Tuesday (July 28) and Wednesday, according to the National Service, which has issued an extreme heat warning for the area.聽... For those without easy access to air conditioning at home or in a workplace, the city of New Orleans offers some refuge from the heat in the form of cooling centers 鈥 air conditioned public buildings open to anyone seeking relief.聽... But on Tuesday afternoon, as the heat index neared 110 degrees in the city, a number of those sites were closed. (Chabrier, 7/28)
More news from across the nation 鈥
A Connecticut-based private equity firm plans to sell a chain of mental health centers and sober-living homes through a deal financed by municipal bonds. Clearview Capital, which buys lower-middle market companies, is selling the New Jersey-based Advantage Behavioral Health, just over a year after recapitalizing the company in partnership with its founders and management. (Braun, 7/28)
A group of faith and community leaders are pushing the governor鈥檚 office to step in to help reopen Weiss Memorial Hospital and West Suburban Medical Center 鈥 as a battle over the hospitals鈥 futures drags on in court. (Schencker, 7/28)
New guidance from the Florida Department of Health urges providers to take a more comprehensive approach before prescribing psychotropic medications to children. The recommendations were released Friday in Orlando during a roundtable discussion on youth mental health hosted by state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo. (Mayer, 7/28)
A warming Chesapeake Bay may mean more days of swimming, but it brings a greater threat from a flesh-eating bacterium that thrives as the mercury rises. (Hille, 7/28)
On the elections front 鈥
When Angel Smith showed up for a mandatory staff meeting last month at OhioHealth Grady Memorial Hospital, the longtime labor and delivery nurse was fresh off a busy night shift caring for a patient who delivered her baby early, at about 35 weeks. (Becker, 7/28)
In 2020, Charlotte businessman Michael Estramonte set out to build a nonprofit treatment center to create more space for kids in mental health crisis.聽聽The idea quickly won support from state and local lawmakers. Since 2023, the Katie Blessing Center has secured more than $40 million in public money, including $35.2 million from the state. (Crouch, 7/29)
Democrat Rob Sand participated in the first of two roundtables directed at the state鈥檚 gubernatorial candidates on addressing Iowa鈥檚 high cancer rates. Iowa has the second highest rate of cancer in the country. It's a topic that鈥檚 become a major issue in the competitive race for the state鈥檚 next top official. (7/28)
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a rising national figure in the Democratic Party, is calling on the state鈥檚 Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell to either prove that he is fit to continue serving after his lengthy hospital stay or resign from office. Beshear made the demand in a letter after McConnell鈥檚 office said Monday that the 84-year-old senator had not yet been medically cleared to leave the rehabilitation facility where he has been undergoing physical therapy. The office said he would miss a major Kentucky political event and upcoming Senate votes. (Cappelletti, 7/28)