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Kela Abernathy’s urgent ride to the Missouri hospital where she would give birth to premature twins covered 100 miles, took nearly four hours, and featured one stop at a hospital that couldn’t help because its labor and delivery ward was defunct. In parts of rural America, such lengthy drives to labor and delivery wards are becoming more common, according to an article published Tuesday in The New York Times. (Virella, 7/19)

At least a dozen business and health care industry groups are sounding alarms about proposals by state lawmakers to raise millions of dollars for struggling community hospitals, warning that the plans would send premiums and other costs soaring. House lawmakers last month approved a bill that would impose more than $330 million in new assessments on insurers and large hospitals, with the money going to community hospitals. (Dayal McCluskey, 7/20)

California and 14 other states sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Thursday over its decision to suspend an Obama-era rule aimed at limiting pollution from trucks. The July 6 decision by the Trump EPA was illegal and could put thousands of additional highly polluting trucks on the roads, the states and the District of Columbia said in the lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (7/19)

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the share of Oregonians who smoked in 2016 was close to the national average of 17.5%. (Cansler, 7/19)

Connecticut Department of Children and Families Commissioner Joette Katz said on Thursday she is seeking an independent review of the state-run psychiatric facility for children where a pregnant teenager hanged herself last month. ..The 16-year-old girl died just one day before she was supposed to be discharged from the South Campus of the Albert J. Solnit Children’s Center in Middletown and sent to a foster home, according to DCF officials. (Silber, 7/19)

Nearly 18 months and $5 million later, Connecticut’s fourth attempt to create a statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE) is still in the planning phase. A Health Information Exchange would allow physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers across the state to share patient medical records. (Werth, 7/19)

The UPMC health system will end its in-network coverage of Highmark Medicare Advantage members on June 30, 2019, according to a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that reverses a lower court's order that granted coverage through 2019. Pennsylvania consumers have been caught in the middle of a spat between the state's largest health system and insurer involving the expiration of consent decrees signed five years ago. (Kacik, 7/19)

There have been no cases of Mayaro virus in Florida yet, but University of Florida’s Barry Alto there could be if it continues to spread from South America. Alto says Florida has the right climate and mosquitos for Mayaro. (Prieur, 7/19)

Trauma endured early in life can ripple directly into a child’s molecular structure and distort their DNA, according to a new study this week from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The genetic changes leave them biologically more vulnerable in later life to psychiatric afflictions like depression, anxiety, mood disorders and high-risk behavior like drug abuse, the researchers found. (Schmid, 7/19)

Only one word comes to mind looking at photos that Texas Department of State Health Services employees took of gray, green and brown-hued mold dotting their office furniture: Ew. As of July 10, as many as 127 state workers have been affected by mold in the building, with some finding mold infiltrating their desks, chairs and keyboard hand rests in the Austin State Hospital 636 building. (Evans, 7/19)

A Virginia resident has died from an infection involving a waterborne bacteria that eats flesh. The person came into contact with the flesh-eating Vibrio bacteria. Virginia Department of Health officials weren’t releasing the person’s name or other details about the resident, citing privacy laws. Katherine McCombs, a ­foodborne disease epidemiology program coordinator at the health department, said the person died from a Vibrio infection. She said she couldn’t say when the person died or came into contact with the bacteria. She said it happened in the health department’s eastern region, which includes the Hampton Roads area. (Hedgpeth, 7/19)

A Pembroke day care has surrendered its license to operate a child care center following a state investigation in late January. Susan Sennett, the owner of Small Steps Learning Center, gave up her license after a Department of Health and Human Services investigation found a series of violations “jeopardizing the health, safety or welfare of children,” according to department documents. (Dawson, 7/19)