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Iowa leaders are poised to propose an ambitious plan to strengthen mental-health services throughout the state. The plan includes six new “access centers,” which would offer short-term help for Iowans who are having mental crises but who are not ill enough to need a bed in crowded psychiatric hospital units. (Leys, 2/2)

Despite congressional inaction, the federal agency that oversees community health centers has sent money to some centers in Connecticut and committed this week to send funding to more, giving them a temporary reprieve from potential layoffs and cuts to services. Like the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), despite bipartisan support, Congress missed its Sept. 30 deadline to reauthorize money for the Community Health Center Fund, which represents the largest chunk of federal grant money going to the centers. (Rigg, 2/2)

Mark Geier built a medical practice in Rockville and a national reputation for propagating the discredited theory that vaccines cause autism. The Maryland Board of Physicians suspended his license seven years ago because he was treating autistic children with a drug considered dangerous for young people and not known to alleviate symptoms of the disorder. But the regulators who stripped Geier’s credentials are now in the hot seat, ordered to each personally pay tens of thousands of dollars in damages by a judge who says the board abused its power in an attempt to humiliate the doctor and his family. (Nirappil, 2/3)

For longtime watchers of Arizona's child-welfare efforts, it’s easy to see this policy as just the latest swing of the pendulum that's moved over the years between seemingly opposite strategies: Remove kids from potentially abusive or neglectful situations to keep them safe, or keep them at home and work with families to improve their situation and avoid foster care. Both approaches pose risks to children. In a troubled home, a child could suffer neglect, or worse. (Pitzi, 2/4)

An opioid epidemic that has claimed the lives of hundreds of Minnesotans. A giant backlog of uninvestigated maltreatment complaints at senior care homes. Deep health disparities by race and income. Stubbornly low vaccination rates among Somali children. And an unexplained rise in suicides among older adults. These are just a handful of the daunting public health challenges facing Jan Malcolm, named Minnesota’s new health commissioner last week by Gov. Mark Dayton. A seasoned administrator and nationally recognized expert on health policy, Malcolm will oversee a department with 1,500 employees and an annual budget of more than $600 million. (Serres, 2/3)

Health care in the U.S. Virgin Islands remains in a critical state, five months after Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria pummeled the region. ...The only hospital on St. Thomas, the Schneider Regional Medical Center, serves some 55,000 residents between the islands of St. Thomas and St. John. Schneider's facilities suffered major structural damage, forcing a decrease in its range of services, mass transfers of its patients, staff departures and significant losses in revenue. (Allen, 2/4)

In an ongoing debate over the future of emergency services at the campus, legislators, city officials and health care professionals will continue their public campaign against the closure while the hospital’s parent organization Sutter Health insists it will keep the campus open for at least a decade. Nurses and local leaders will gather for a community forum Saturday on the Ed Roberts campus, calling on Sutter Health to keep Alta Bates open as a full hospital with inpatient and emergency car. (Sciacca, 2/2)

Two months after taking the helm at Children's Hospital of New Orleans, John Nickens IV met with families who were spending time at the facility while their children received treatment over the holidays. One family stood out in particular. Their child had been at the hospital for a month and they described having to move from place to place while their child was in treatment. It's a circumstance that many families have faced, especially when they're coming from out of town for medical help for their children. But it's a challenge that hospital administrators are working to address as Children's Hospital undergoes a $300 million multi-phase renovation. (Clark, 2/2)

The union representing thousands of Bay Area health care workers is launching a signature-gathering campaign this week in four Bay Area cities with the goal of qualifying ballot initiatives that would force Stanford Health Care facilities to lower costs or invest more money in care. The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West has filed ballot measures for the November election in Palo Alto, Pleasanton, Redwood City and Livermore, all home to Stanford Health Care facilities. (Marzorati, 2/5)

New Jersey could soon become the first state to outlaw the sale of menthol cigarettes. Legislation banning the cigarettes was approved Monday by the state Assembly's Health and Senior Services Committee and now heads to the Appropriations Committee for further consideration. Similar legislation has not yet been introduced in the state Senate. (2/4)

Molokai’s Kalaupapa peninsula seems like a peaceful haven. But it is home to a painful legacy — that of thousands of people with Hansen’s disease, or leprosy, who were once banished there to live and die in exile. “A Source of Light, Constant and Never-Fading,” an exhibition at the University of Hawaii — West Oahu, tells their stories. (Blakemore, 2/4)

[Kristen] Lundstrom and her son are participating in a study that is “training parents so they can essentially function like the speech language clinicians for their own kids,” said Dr. Leonard Abbeduto, principal researcher in the study and executive director of the MIND Institute. ...And while they’re reading, speech language clinicians at the MIND Institute coach Lundstrom via Skype in ways to draw Tyson out, such as how to ask questions that will prompt him to expand his answers and use new vocabulary words. (Sullivan, 2/5)

Two elected officials are trying to garner support for a Palo Alto ballot initiative that aims to control the costs of patient care. The initiative, which would be placed on the November ballot if it collects enough signatures, would limit Stanford Hospital and other Palo Alto medical facilities “from charging patients more than 15 percent above the cost of care, plus quality improvement costs,” according to a statement issued Friday by Service Employees International Union United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), which is backing the initiative. (Kelly, 2/2)

Michael Marquesen first noticed about a year ago that fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid, had hit the streets of Los Angeles. People suddenly started overdosing after they shot up a new white powder that dealers promised would give them a powerful high. “In Hollywood, they’re like ‘Everybody’s dropping … everybody’s overdosing!’” said Marquesen, director of the Los Angeles Community Health Project, which provides support services for people dealing with drug addiction. (Bartolone, 2/2)