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The expansion of Medicaid hasn't made critical access hospitals any more financially stable or better for patient care than hospitals in non-expansion states. A new study in the December issue of Health Affairs found these hospitals did not experience improved quality scores or better staffing levels overall as compared as compared to critical access facilities in states that didn't expand the insurance program. (Gillespie, 12/7)

The Hawaii Department of Health issued an emergency order on Tuesday, calling on the Navy to take further action to remedy its water system after tests detected petroleum products in one of its wells. The order comes a day after Navy officials at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam announced they would suspend operations at a major fuel tank farm located near the contaminated water well. "The Navy's contamination of drinking water has impacted all O'ahu residents—military and civilian—and we must take appropriate steps to safeguard the drinking water we all share as a community," Hawaii's health director Dr. Elizabeth Char said in a statement Tuesday. (Powell, 12/7)

A panel of West Virginia lawmakers is expected to consider an update to the state’s water quality standards Wednesday that has drawn the ire of environmentalist groups. The provision would allow the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to evaluate water quality criteria on a case-by-case basis, a change that the West Virginia Rivers Coalition and other environmentalist groups view as a loophole for chemical and other industrial manufacturers. (Tony, 12/7)

On the tiny stoop of a small, brick Grand Avenue home, an older, petite Black woman strains to drag two 24-pack cases of bottled water. Bobbie Johnson, a slender 76-year-old with wiry, gray hair, buys the water every few days from the local Save A Lot grocery store. She drags the cases through the front door, over worn, brown carpet, past clutter and pictures of her 19 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren hanging on living room walls. (Sanderlin and Rowe, 12/8)

Routine HIV testing of inmates when they enter jails would lead to many more diagnosed infections and overall would save costs on health care, a recently published study says. Researchers from the CDC, Emory University and the Georgia Department of Public Health focused on an HIV testing change at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. Three years ago, the jail switched from routine testing of inmates to a more random process. That led to dozens of missed HIV diagnoses over the course of a year, according to the study, published in November in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. (Miller, 12/7)

Fewer people were tested, and fewer people were able to access care while most city services were shut down at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The result? HIV counts in Philadelphia from 2020 are likely artificially low, city health officials said in the report, released Tuesday. And people already living with an HIV diagnosis were more likely not to receive care last year, either because HIV services were shut down or because they were afraid of contracting COVID at a doctor’s office or hospital. People with HIV can also be immunocompromised, compounding the fear for contracting the virus. (Whelan, 12/7)

More than 300 people have developed cancer or other illnesses, attorneys say, as a result of exposure to a toxic gas at a medical sterilization plant in Cobb County. Lawsuits allege that Smyrna plant, Sterigenics, which has been under fire for the last two years, released airborne toxins that caused elevated cancer risks to those living in surrounding neighborhoods. Now, new court filings reveal another company could potentially be facing blame. Not only is Sterigenics listed on the lawsuit but so is its landlord, Prologis. (12/7)

They rifled through dumpsters, pieced through shredded forms and reviewed patient records from dozens of people who were sick and incarcerated at the Utah State Prison. What state legislative auditors found, they say, was proof of an inadequate prison health care system in Utah, one rife with so many “systemic deficiencies” that it has often translated to delayed and inadequate care for inmates. Legislative auditors discovered some prisoners who are diabetic were not getting food quickly enough after receiving insulin. They found private medical logs in a public dumpster outside the prison — twice. And a medical expert hired to review patient charts found at least two prisoners who contracted COVID-19 did not receive medical follow-ups for days as they became increasingly sick. (Miller, 12/7)

The leader of a campaign to legalize marijuana use in Missouri said he is confident the issue will pass if his group gathers enough signatures to put the question on the 2022 election ballot. A group called Legal Missouri 2022 began an initiative petition effort last week that, if successful, would allow anyone 21 and over to buy, consume, possess or cultivate marijuana for any reason. Currently, the state allows marijuana use only for medical reasons. (12/8)

A state Senate study committee has asked the General Assembly to consider stiffening penalties for violent attacks on Georgia health care workers. But new legislation addressing the issue is unlikely because criminal justice experts believe existing law already covers violence in the health-care workplace, Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta, the study committee’s chairman and an orthopedic surgeon, said. “There are already penalties in place for aggravated assault and aggravated battery,” she said. “I can’t promise legislation is going to happen or would pass if it’s proposed.” (Williams, 12/7)

The OHI Brewer Food Pantry needs to raise about $40,000 to pay for a new roof and repairs from water damage to its facility at 222 North Main St. If the organization can’t raise the money to pay for the completed work, it would have to close the food pantry that serves families in Brewer, Eddington and other nearby communities, Rich Romero, resource development director with OHI, warned Tuesday. (Harrison, 12/7)