Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In-N-Out Burger Bans Employee Masks, Drawing Criticism
California fast-food institution In-N-Out Burger announced that it will soon ban employees from wearing masks in five of the seven states in which it operates restaurants, according to an internal memo leaked Friday. The exceptions? Workers in California and Oregon will still be able to mask, if they choose, to protect themselves from COVID-19 and other illnesses. (Olson, 7/17)
In other news from across the states 鈥
Mesquite waved in the breeze at聽Antina Ranch as well control specialist Hawk Dunlap dipped a stick into a hole in the ground and smelled it. 鈥淪ee?鈥 he asked, extending the stick.聽It smelled like gasoline. (Drane, 7/17)
A hospital company has shut down the only inpatient mental health unit in western Mississippi鈥檚 Warren County, and the sheriff says the closure will cause major problems. Merit Health River Region鈥檚 behavioral health unit in Vicksburg closed June 30, and its 50 beds were transferred to Merit Health Central Mississippi in Jackson, the Vicksburg Post reported. The two hospitals are about 39 miles (63 kilometers) apart. (7/17)
A Florida family accused of selling a toxic industrial bleach as a fake COVID-19 cure through their online church is on trial this week in Miami. Mark Grenon, 65, and his sons, 37-year-old Jonathan, 35-year-old Joseph and 29-year-old Jordan, are all charged with conspiring to defraud the United States and deliver misbranded drugs, according to court records. (7/18)
Two leaders are out at an Indiana addiction treatment center after three recent deaths and calls by police to yank its license. The executive director and director of nursing are no longer working at Praxis Landmark Recovery, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation site for men near South Bend, the company told WNDU-TV. (7/17)
About 4,500 people a year leave prison in Minnesota, and nearly 1,000 are released onto the street, with nowhere to go. That鈥檚 according to the latest version of the Department of Corrections homelessness report, the second time the agency has taken a look at where people live once they鈥檙e released from state custody. (Nelson, 7/17)
A $1.2 million federal grant will improve access to behavioral health services for teens in the northwest corner of Connecticut, addressing one of the area鈥檚 most critical health care needs. Funds will primarily go towards creating a network of care that will increase capacity of existing providers, as well as bring in new providers to help support excess demand. (Golvala, 7/18)
