Late Friday afternoon, two whiplash-inducing rulings out of Texas and Washington State threw the status of a commonly used abortion medication into limbo. Here’s why these cases matter in Massachusetts and what to expect for the next week. Are these two court rulings about one specific pill, or all types of abortion medication? They are focused on one […]
Health
Posted inHealth Care
Healey warns pharmacies to keep abortion meds stocked
WITH ACCESS TO a widely-used abortion medication on the line, Massachusetts is trying to walk and chew gum at the same time – warning local pharmacies that they must continue supplying the medications, while gearing up for a potentially disruptive ruling out of Texas that could throw abortion care systems into chaos. “Clarifying guidance” from the […]
Posted inHealth, State Government, State House News Service
Healey walking back vaccine mandate for state workers
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SOME OF THE LAST vestiges of the COVID-19 emergency declaration will end in May when Gov. Maura Healey will lift the modified public health emergency and walk back a vaccine mandate for tens of thousands of executive branch workers. The Healey administration announced Wednesday it will end the public health emergency […]
Posted inHealth Care
Health Equity Compact tackling big challenges
JUAN FERNANDO LOPERA doesn’t minimize the immense challenges facing the Health Equity Compact, a group of 50 Black and Latinx Massachusetts health care leaders who joined together last year to address inequities in health care. “We talked a lot about are we trying to boil the ocean and the reality is, yes, we need to boil […]
Posted inHealth, Health Care, Opinion
Our mental health care worker shortage is taking a toll
MENTAL HEALTH CARE is, like many industries, facing a workforce shortage, as clinicians flee the field in record numbers. But looming alongside that shortage is a second and equally troubling mental health crisis, one that threatens our nation’s children. So, what happens when the two crises intersect? The answer can be found simply by looking […]
Posted inOpinion
Challenge the status quo on student mental health
WE ARE FACING a seismic shift in the mental health of an entire generation. Children today are grappling with profound emotional and mental distress: According to the CDC, one in three high school students experienced such persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in the past year that they couldn’t participate in their regular activities. And […]
Posted inHealth, Health Care, State Government
A renewed push to legalize ‘medical aid in dying’
LEGISLATORS AND MEDICAL CHOICE advocates are taking another run at passing a medical aid in dying bill after the Supreme Judicial Court last year placed the responsibility squarely on lawmakers to consider the emotionally fraught subject. A Senate bill and its House counterpart would establish a 10-step vetting process for adult patients with a terminal diagnosis of […]
Posted inHealth
What’s a conversion foundation and why it matters
WHEN THE national health care company Optum acquired Massachusetts-based Atrius Health last year, the deal set the stage for the emergence of the state’s third conversion foundation. A conversion foundation is the byproduct when a for-profit health care company (Optum) buys a nonprofit (Atrius). A chunk of the sale price, in this case $236 million, […]
Posted inOpinion
Direct care workers made my sister feel part of a family
NURSING HOMES AND OTHER FACILITIES that employ direct care staff are experiencing unprecedented job vacancies and difficulty recruiting and retaining skilled workers. My job in healthcare real estate gives me a window into this world, where an organization’s ability to safely provide care relies on these often-undervalued workers who nonetheless are passionate about this rewarding […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
MBTA seeks charges in connection with suicide attempt
ATTEMPTING SUICIDE IS treated as a crime in a handful of countries around the world, but not in the United States – which is why the MBTA’s decision to seek criminal charges against a man who endangered the safety of passengers while allegedly trying to commit suicide at the Alewife Station parking garage is so […]