State Highlights: Striking Teachers In Chicago Push For More Health Workers In Schools; California Begins Disciplining Doctors For Improper Vaccine Exemptions

Media outlets report on news from Illinois, California, Idaho, Iowa, Alaska, Ohio, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Florida and Texas.

Reuters: Number Of Social Workers A Key Sticking Point In Chicago Teachers Strike

As the Chicago teachers strike enters a sixth school day on Thursday, negotiations are hung up in part on the question of how many social workers the third-largest U.S. school system can afford for its 300,000 students. Mayor Lori Lightfoot's administration has proposed doubling the current number of school social workers from about 400 over the next five years, while the Chicago Teachers Union wants the number tripled. (10/24)

The New York Times: It’s More Than Pay: Striking Teachers Demand Counselors And Nurses

In Chicago, it has become clear that teacher pay is not the primary sticking point in the negotiations; after all, the city has already agreed to a raise. The Chicago Teachers Union is asking that the district enshrine in its contract a promise to hire more counselors, health workers and librarians, and to free them from tasks outside of their core duties. Those professionals are also members of the union. (Goldstein, 10/24)

Los Angeles Times: Three Doctors Face Medical Discipline For Vaccine Exemptions, And More Could Be On The Way

A San Diego doctor is among three California physicians accused by the Medical Board of California of granting inappropriate childhood vaccination exemptions, but many more doctors across the state may be in for similar scrutiny. Earlier this week, the board released a formal charge of negligence against Dr. Tara Zandvliet for writing a vaccination exemption for a local girl based on inadequate documentation of an adverse medical history that would make inoculation too risky. (Sisson, 10/24)

The Associated Press: Idaho Makes It Harder To Change Gender On Birth Certificates

Idaho officials have made it more difficult for young transgender people to change the sex listed on their birth certificates despite a U.S. court ruling that appears to ban such obstacles. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare released comments from the public Wednesday on a temporary rule requiring people younger than 18 to get approval from medical or mental health professionals before requesting the change. (10/24)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Office Seeks To Outsource Some Of Its Investigations Into Nursing Home Complaints

An Iowa office that investigates complaints of abuse and neglect at long-term care facilities like nursing homes is exploring whether to outsource some of its work. The Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman will solicit proposals for third-party work from a public entity or nonprofit beginning Thursday. Cynthia "Cindy" Pederson, the state's long-term care ombudsman and the head of the office, confirmed the plans to the Des Moines Register in a phone interview. She disagreed with the description of "outsourcing." (Rodriguez, 10/24)

Anchorage Daily New: After The Last Cop Killed Himself, All The Criminals Have To Do Is Hide

Russian Mission hasn’t had a permanent, certified police officer since. Fourteen years after his death, a generation of children in the Alaska Native village, including Askoak’s grandchildren, is growing up in a town left to fend for itself. In a region with the highest rate of homicide and accidental death in Alaska, where half of women experience sexual assault or domestic violence, offenders here have learned they can simply hide from visiting state troopers to avoid arrest. (Hopkins, 10/24)

Chicago Tribune: ‘Every Day I Go Outside, I Feel Like I’m Going To Get Killed’: How Chicagoans Exposed To Violence End Up Isolated, Lonely And With Chronic Health Problems

In a study that looks at social isolation, loneliness and violence exposure in urban adults, data shows that the more violence people experienced in their own community, the lonelier they were likely to be. The greatest loneliness was found among people who were exposed to community violence and who screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Couple that information with the fact that loneliness is a growing health concern in the nation, and it would appear that violence that leads to loneliness can also lead to higher mortality, [Dr. Elizabeth] Tung said. (Rockett, 10/24)

Chicago Tribune: Illinois Pharmacists Would Get Breaks, More Time To Get Prescriptions Right Under Patient Safety Plan Spurred By Tribune Investigation

Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration is pushing changes in state regulations to require pharmacists take breaks to relieve pressure from heavy workloads, ensure pharmacies give them time to review patient drug histories and cut down on the extra duties that distract them from safely dispensing drugs. The proposed changes, which could be considered as soon as the legislature’s fall session that starts Monday, arose from a task force formed in response to a Chicago Tribune investigation that found 52% of 255 Chicago-area pharmacies had failed to warn about combinations of drugs that could cause harm or death. (Long, 10/25)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: HUD Awards $10 Million To Akron, Summit County To Combat Lead Poisoning In Homes

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday announced a $5.6 million grant to Summit County and a $4.6 million grant to the city of Akron to address homes with lead hazards and other health concerns. The announcement coincides with National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, and comes a day after HUD announced a $9.7 million grant for the city of Cleveland and $5.6 million for Cuyahoga County. (Goist, 10/24)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: New Federal Warning Flags Abuse At 3 Louisiana Nursing-Home Facilities

The federal government has marked three of Louisiana's 276 nursing homes with a new, online warning to indicate the facility has been cited for abuse. The icon, a red circle with a hand in it that appears next to some facilities on a federal website consumers can use to compare nursing homes, flags instances of abuse, neglect or exploitation that led to harm in the past year or that could have potentially led to harm in the past two years. (Woodruff, 10/24)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Teen Girls Trafficked By Woman They Met At Milwaukee Academy

Two teenage girls were sexually trafficked by a woman they met at a behavioral and mental health facility in Milwaukee, according to a criminal complaint. The two girls first met Kendra Bey at Milwaukee Academy, where she was employed as a youth worker from July 2015 through October 2015. Milwaukee Academy is a residential treatment facility for girls who have psychiatric issues or who have been victims of abuse, including sex trafficking. (Rumage, 10/24)

The Advocate: Ex-OLOL Foundation Head John Paul Funes Apologizes For 'Awful, Senseless' Crimes, Repays Nearly $800K

The former head of the Our Lady of the Lake Foundation apologized Thursday for his “awful and senseless” crimes and “extremely poor judgment” before a judge ordered him to spend 33 months in federal prison for embezzling nearly $800,000 from the nonprofit fundraising arm for Our Lake of the Lake Regional Medical Center and its affiliated hospitals. U.S. District Judge John deGravelles, who back in June accepted John Paul Funes' guilty pleas to wire fraud and money laundering, noted Thursday in a courtroom packed with Funes’ family, friends and supporters that the 49-year-old Funes paid more than $796,000 in restitution. (Gyan, 10/24)

Miami Herald: U.S. Dept Of Health And Human Services Fines Jackson Health

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has fined Jackson Health System $2.15 million over three patient health information breaches, including missing boxes of paper records, an employee leaking information about an NFL player to an ESPN reporter, and another employee stealing and selling other records. Jackson Health waived its right to a hearing, paid the penalty and did not contest the findings of the investigation, which was conducted by the agency’s Office of Civil Rights. (Conark, 10/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Homeless Become More Visible In Austin, Sparking Political Clash

In 10 years of off-and-on homelessness, Rebecca Wallace has lived in the shadows of Texas’ capital city. Once, while living behind a shopping mall, she said a beating by a group of men put her in intensive care for weeks. Now, Ms. Wallace sleeps on an inflatable mattress under a freeway in the city’s busy tourist district, along with a growing number of other homeless people. (Findell, 10/24)

This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription