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Lawmakers will return to Washington on Monday facing intense public pressure to break their decades-long gridlock on gun control, a demand fortified by a bipartisan group of governors calling for Congress to take action to protect against mass shootings. But even as members of both parties said it might be difficult for Congress to remain on the sidelines after the school massacre this month in Parkland, Fla., lawmakers have no clear consensus on even incremental changes to gun restrictions, let alone more sweeping legislation. (Gay Stolberg, Martin and Kaplan, 2/25)

Congress is most likely to consider a measure from Sens. John Cornyn (R., Texas) and Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) that would encourage states and federal agencies, including the military, to submit criminal-conviction records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS. Mr. Cornyn introduced the bill after the background-check system failed to prevent the gunman in a Texas shooting last November from purchasing weapons, despite his history of domestic abuse. Those records are required by law to be uploaded, but they can slip through the cracks. (Peterson and Andrews, 2/25)

Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal called for a federal law Sunday allowing law-enforcement officials to take away people’s guns if a judge rules they are a threat to themselves or others. Connecticut passed such a law in 1999 following a shooting at the Connecticut Lottery Corp. in which a gunman killed four people. (de Avila, 2/25)

President Trump said Thursday that violent video games and movies may play a role in school shootings, a claim that has been made — and rejected — many times since the increase in such attacks in the past two decades. Movies are “so violent,” Mr. Trump said at a meeting on school safety one day after he gathered with survivors of school shootings, including some from last week’s massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where, the authorities say, a former student, Nikolas Cruz, killed 17 people with a semiautomatic rifle. (Salam and Stack, 2/23)

On the same day that a troubled former student walked onto the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and murdered 17 people with an assault-style rifle, at least 28 more people died from gunshots elsewhere in the United States. ... But even though doctors and public health officials have long considered gun deaths a public health threat — firearms kill as many Americans each year as die in car accidents — the CDC and state agencies responsible for reducing preventable deaths can do little when it comes to guns. (Chang, 2/23)

A growing bipartisan number of state governors have joined calls for a reconsideration of gun laws and school safety measures after the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., a sign that resulting legislative changes could extend far beyond Florida in the coming months. The impact of the shooting rippled through the winter meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington this weekend, as state leaders expressed willingness to consider new limits on gun ownership and stepped up efforts to address mental-health factors. But most said they were opposed to President Trump’s proposal to allow more teachers to be armed. (Scherer and Balz, 2/25)

Governors of states with strong gun cultures and more lax firearm restrictions focused on defensive measures, such as limiting access to schools. Meanwhile, Governor Charlie Baker and other leaders of states with strict gun laws conveyed confidence in their own statutes and expressed hope that other states, and perhaps even the federal government, might mirror them. (Miller, 2/25)

A bipartisan group of governors working to strike compromise on hot-button policy issues took on the question of health care on Friday. Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in presenting the group's blueprint for policy changes at the National Press Club, lamented that one of the country's largest challenges seems to have been set aside by policymakers."It's like health care doesn't even matter anymore down here," he said. (2/23)

President Trump argued Friday that ObamaCare is being “wiped out” in a “piece-by-piece” way despite the failure of the GOP Congress to repeal the law. Trump, speaking to the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday, pointed to a number of actions that Republicans have taken against the law, including repealing the individual mandate to buy health insurance as part of the tax-cut bill. (Sullivan, 2/23)

The Trump administration’s efforts to loosen health insurance rules will increase premiums for Obamacare plans by double-digit percentages in most states next year, according to a new analysis by the Urban Institute. Monthly payments for a traditional health insurance plan sold through Obamacare will go up by 18 percent, on average, in 43 states where there aren’t limits on less-comprehensive but less-expensive coverage the administration is calling for, according to the Washington-based policy group. (Tozzi, 2/26)

President Trump on Friday called out Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), though not by name, for his vote against ObamaCare repeal. "Except for one senator, who came into a room at 3 o’clock in the morning and went like that, we would have had health care too, we would have had health care too, think of that," Trump told the Conservative Political Action Conference, imitating the thumbs down motion that McCain made during a late-night vote to pass a repeal measure.  (Sullivan, 2/23)

Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar will meet with Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) this weekend amid a controversial effort by Idaho's government to get around ObamaCare rules. The meeting, one of many one-on-one meetings with governors that Azar will have at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington, will be a chance for Azar to speak with Idaho officials for the first time about the state's proposal. (Sullivan, 2/23)

The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation could offer health insurance plans that don't comply with the federal Affordable Care Act under legislation advancing in the Iowa Legislature. The new coverage could offer relatively low premiums for young and healthy consumers, but people with pre-existing health problems could once again be charged more. It would be organized by Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield. (Pfannenstiel, 2/24)

Rick, Patrick and Michael recently commented on Covered California’s Facebook page, urging others to ditch health insurance because: “No more fines or penalties!!! Trump took care of that!! Saved me 700 bucks this year!!!” “Trump removed the penalty for not having insurance.” “I’m pretty sure Trump abolished the illegal penalty.” They’re right — and wrong. (Bazar, 2/23)

Single-payer health care is gaining ground among Democrats. In a sign of the party’s move to the left on the issue, the Center for American Progress (CAP), a bastion of the Democratic establishment, this week released a plan that comes very close to a single-payer system.T hat’s a dramatic change from just two years ago, when Hillary Clinton — tied closely to CAP — dismissed Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) push of “Medicare for all” as politically unrealistic. (Sullivan, 2/25)

The Trump administration said it would prioritize grant applications to the Title X family-planning program that come from organizations with a religious background and counsel abstinence or “natural” methods, a move abortion providers said will make it harder for them to get federal funding. Health officials outlined the new rules Friday in announcing a fresh round of funding for Title X, which pays for services like contraception and infertility treatment. (Hackman, 2/23)

Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers will not be barred from applying for funding under a federal family planning grant program, an official at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Friday. The HHS Office of Population Affairs released a long-awaited funding announcement Friday for $260 million in funding for Title X grants. (Hellmann, 2/23)

Dan Lipinski is the kind of candidate Democrats need more of for the party to win the House in November. But the national Democratic Party is refusing to endorse him. The seven-term congressman from Chicago, who opposes abortion and voted against Obamacare, marriage equality and immigration reform, is one of the most conservative members of the House Democratic Caucus. (Caygle, 2/25)

Inside a complex of special government labs, scientists in full-body protective suits work with some of the world’s deadliest pathogens: Ebola, smallpox and certain strains of bird flu. Many of the organisms have no treatment or vaccine, so the labs housed in this facility on the sprawling campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are equipped with extensive safety features. There is special air pressurization to prevent any accidental release, and hoses attached to the bulky protective outfits pump in breathing air for the scientists wearing them. (Sun, 2/23)

“The concerns are that the facility we’ve been in now is beginning to show signs of age,” said Dr. Inger Damon, head of the division of high consequence pathogens and pathology. That division works on viruses like smallpox and Ebola, which can only be studied in laboratories of the highest biosafety and biosecurity ratings, BSL4. The request, which is currently in the proposed budget for fiscal year 2018, is for $350 million. But more will be needed later; the new high containment continuity laboratory, as it is called, would be built on the site of one of only a few parking facilities on the CDC’s main campus. (Branswell, 2/23)

The authorities in Atlanta announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the case of a missing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employee who disappeared about two weeks ago. The employee, Timothy J. Cunningham, 35, was promoted to commander in the United States Public Health Service in July, his family said. According to the police, he was last seen on Feb. 12. (Caron, 2/24)

The Harvard-educated epidemiologist was promoted in July at the U.S. Public Health Service in Atlanta and contributed to responses following outbreaks of Zika, Ebola and health emergencies caused by Hurricane Sandy. He also was a prominent fixture in the Atlanta community, earning a spot in Atlanta Business Chronicle's 40 Under 40 Awards last year. But the researcher, who studies disease patterns, was not feeling well Feb. 12 and left work around midday. (Horton, 2/25)

The days of the hospital as we know it may be numbered. In a shift away from their traditional inpatient facilities, health-care providers are investing in outpatient clinics, same-day surgery centers, free-standing emergency rooms and microhospitals, which offer as few as eight beds for overnight stays. They are setting up programs that monitor people 24/7 in their own homes. And they are turning to digital technology to treat and keep tabs on patients remotely from a high-tech hub. (Landro, 2/25)

In an effort to encourage new treatments for opioid addiction, the Food and Drug Administration plans to begin permitting pharmaceutical companies to sell medications that help temper cravings, even if they don’t fully stop addiction. The change is part of a wider effort to expand access to so-called medication-assisted treatment, or MAT. The agency will issue draft guidelines in the next few weeks. A senior agency official provided details of the proposal to The New York Times. (Kaplan, 2/25)

In his first extensive remarks on the opioid epidemic, set to be delivered Saturday, Azar announces two measures aimed at increasing this form of treatment. “Medication-assisted treatment works,” Azar says in prepared remarks for a session of the National Governors Association's winter meeting that were shared with The Hill. “The evidence on this is voluminous and ever growing.” (Roubein, 2/24)

Months after President Donald Trump first designated the opioid epidemic as a public health emergency and weeks after Congress announced $6 billion in new funding for states to battle the problem, the House of Representatives will kick off its first big policy effort to manage the crisis. On Wednesday in the first of three scheduled hearings, the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee will examine a packet of bills that focus more on enforcement than treatment. The legislation emerging from these hearings will likely be this Congress' final substantive health policy push before the 2018 midterm elections. (Luthi, 2/24)

Congress is moving to take a second crack at opioid legislation, with lawmakers broadly agreeing that they need to do more to deal with a crisis that’s killing more than 42,000 people per year. There’s a sense of urgency to the push, as lawmakers continue to hear story after story of people in their communities dying from overdoses. The crisis is showing no signs of abating, as the rate of opioid overdose deaths increased nearly 28 percent from 2015 to 2016. (Roubein, 2/25)

Trey Laird knew his life looked good. After graduating from an elite prep school in Manhattan and then Dartmouth College, he began working in finance and climbed a well-worn path to professional success and financial comfort. He lived with his wife and two children in Darien, Conn., one of the wealthiest communities in the United States. He always liked to party: “I was the guy playing beer pong in the basement at the fraternity,” he said. But after having his appendix removed, he got hooked on prescription pain pills. (Sullivan, 2/23)

Amassive lawsuit in Ohio over the nation’s opioid crisis has largely ignored an influential group of companies in the prescription drug business — the financial middlemen that brokered access to the powerful pills that got so many people hooked. Perhaps that’s because their role is simply harder to see. Known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), these companies secretly make the rules that determine the availability of drugs, and how much patients must pay out of pocket to get them. (Ross, 2/26)

State and county agencies are eliminating long-standing obstacles to treatment, starting with Minnesota’s complicated process for determining whether people struggling with addiction qualify for publicly funded care. By July, evaluations will be streamlined across the state and many people seeking help will be approved for treatment within hours instead of weeks. (Serres, 2/24)

Craig Perry stopped by the Claremont office of Hope for New Hampshire Recovery on Thursday afternoon. He struggled with addiction for a good chunk of his 20s, but now, at 30 years old, he’s been clean for about a year and a half. His drug problems started when he took his first job after college, he said. He’d get high on lunch breaks.  “I didn’t know it’d affect me like that,” he said. “More and more, and then I had to go to heavier stuff.” He’s been coming to the center here for about five months. He has a close relationship with its manager, who's been a bedrock counselor in his recovery. (Greene, 2/25)

The worst U.S. flu epidemic in years appears to have peaked, according to federal data released Friday, but transmission is still intense, and cases from a strain that often surges late in the season are rising. “The amount of activity is still very high,” Daniel Jernigan, director of the flu division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the data, said in an interview. “There are still many weeks left of this flu season—probably through mid-April.” (McKay, 2/23)

Flu activity is on the decrease for the first time in this fierce flu season, suggesting that the worst may be over, according to a federal health report released Friday. But the intensity of illness caused by the respiratory virus, the worst  since the swine flu pandemic of 2009-2010, continues to take its toll. Another 13 child deaths were reported for the week ending last Saturday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That brings the total to at least 97 pediatric deaths since October. (Sun, 2/23)

Determining if you have the flu isn’t always easy—even with a trip to the ER. Doctors often skip the type of diagnostic tests that can deliver results within minutes of a nasal swab, believing they’re unreliable. More accurate tests take longer to return results, and doctors sometimes prefer to prescribe antiviral drugs or other treatment based on symptoms rather than wait. (Loftus, 2/24)

If you get the flu, it’s not just the chills and body aches you have to worry about. For adults older than 35, the flu brings a substantial risk to your heart. “We know that viruses can affect the heart,” said Dr. Juan-Carlos Brenes, a board-certified cardiologist and internist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. (Foster, 2/25)

County public health officials reported seven Solano County residents, ages 19 to 64, have died of flu or flu-related causes since the season began Oct. 1, and the number of deaths continues to rise although flu cases are decreasing, generally reflecting statewide data, The Reporter has learned. A health education specialist with the county Department of Public Health, Shai Davis noted in email that, while the number of reported flu cases decreased in late February compared to January, “We are still getting reports of deaths.” (Bammer, 2/24)

Hopes were dashed this week that the United States was finally making progress in the fight against childhood obesity. Contrary to previous reports, the epidemic of fat has not abated. In fact, there's been a big jump in obesity among the nation's youngest children, according to the latest analysis of federal data, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. (Stein, 2/26)

Only about 50 percent of adolescents with depression get diagnosed before reaching adulthood. And as many as 2 in 3 depressed teens don't get the care that could help them. "It's a huge problem," says Dr. Rachel Zuckerbrot, a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist and associate professor at Columbia University. (Aubrey, 2/26)

Every child is crabby sometimes. But for some children, the problem is a lot greater than occasional crabbiness. For these children, the irritability is so constant and severe that it causes serious problems at home and school. What’s more, a high level of irritability in childhood often is a predictor of other mental-health problems later: These children have a greater risk of developing depression and anxiety disorders and are more likely to later have suicidal thoughts, research has found. (Petersen, 2/25)

Frank Vignuli couldn’t be having a heart attack, could he? He wasn’t short of breath. His chest didn’t feel tight. But on the morning of Aug. 4, 2004, the 47-year-old from Wilmington, Del., didn’t feel normal. His jaw was burning, his shoulder was in pain. But he didn’t want to wake up his family. The port operations manager wasn’t in the habit of going to the doctor or asking for help about his health. (Blakemore, 2/25)

The patient in the operating room was Stanley Kareta, a 29-year-old Army captain who had agreed to donate half of his liver to his wife’s father. The older man had a liver disease so advanced that his only hope of survival was a transplant. But with about 14,000 people on the nation’s waiting list for donor livers, most of which come from deceased donors, there was little chance he would be approved for one in time. (Linden, 2/25)

A new online dating app is pitching DNA analysis as a cure for catfishing, endless left swiping, and the myriad other ailments of 21st-century courtship. Pheramor, which launches this week in Houston with several thousand singles already signed up, operates like a cross between 23andMe and OkCupid. Users swab their cheeks, mail in their samples for sequencing, and then browse profiles of potential dates with whom they’re assigned a compatibility score between 0 and 100 percent. (Robbins, 2/26)

Has Chinese alternative medicine come in from the cold? Shares of Hong Kong-listed pharmaceutical distributor Kingworld Medicines Group Ltd. soared as much as 55% Monday after a Wall Street Journal article about growing use of its signature product in the U.S. was widely shared among social media users in Asia and picked up by some local media outlets. The company describes its dark syrupy cough remedy, Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa, as an “herbal dietary supplement with honey and loquat.” (Erheriene, 2/26)

Joel Nowak, a 66-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., resident with metastatic prostate cancer, knows a lot about cancer research. Over the years, he has contributed blood, saliva and medical information to studies in hopes of helping investigators battle the disease. But something has nagged at him. Almost always, Mr. Nowak says, investigators want data, “but you never hear from them again.” (Dockser Marcus, 2/25)

It was a headline that captured her attention: “Boy, 13, died just A WEEK after being diagnosed with leukemia despite having NO symptoms beforehand.” Laura Handley, a mother of five, had been scrolling through Facebook when she was sucked into a story about a seemingly healthy 13-year-old boy who had died suddenly from an aggressive form of cancer called acute myeloid leukemia. Curious about the disease, she decided to search for the symptoms on Google. The results came back with “fatigue, fever, or loss of appetite.” (Bever, 2/24)

To see if you're bending correctly, try a simple experiment. "Stand up and put your hands on your waist," says Jean Couch, who has been helping people get out of back pain for 25 years at her studio in Palo Alto, Calif. "Now imagine I've dropped a feather in front of your feet and asked to pick it up," Couch says. "Usually everybody immediately moves their heads and looks down." (Doucleff, 2/26)

John Fixx works out every day. Most days he runs, either outside or on a treadmill. Sometimes he uses an elliptical machine. He also lifts weights and follows a low-fat diet. He has never smoked. At 56, mindful of his family history, he already has lived longer than his father and grandfather, who both died young of heart attacks. His three siblings also practice healthy habits. “We can’t control the DNA we are given,” says Fixx, who heads the Country School in Madison, Conn. “But we can control what we put into our bodies, and whether we exercise, get enough sleep and manage stress. A predisposition to cardiovascular disease doesn’t mean we can’t lead healthy lives extended by many years.” (Cimons, 2/24)

What if you could take a blood test to determine the best diet for you? Right now most dietary guidelines are developed by looking at an average population. But not everyone responds to a given diet the same way. Some ethnic groups, for instance, are more prone than others to high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels and excess body fat on certain diets. (Ward, 2/25)

Rare diseases — ailments that affect fewer than 200,000 individuals in the United States — may go unnoticed by most people. But advocates say they’re worth noticing. People with Adams-Oliver syndrome, for example, are born with hairless, scarred patches on their scalps and may be missing lower legs or hands. People with granuloma annulare experience rings of bumps on their skin that can spontaneously appear or resolve. People with watermelon stomach get stripes on the inside of the stomach from internal bleeding. (Blakemore, 2/24)

You may have heard that going outside in the winter without a hat on will result in catching a cold, but is that really true? A doctor separates fact from fiction when it comes to what actually causes us to get sick. (2/25)

Kaiser Health News: Trump’s Perfect Score On Brain Test Spawns DIY Cognitive Exam

When Donald Trump aced a cognitive test in January, scores of people tried to take it, too, based mostly on media reports that invited them to match wits with the president. Casual users puzzled over line drawings of animals, while others wondered what it meant if they were bad at subtracting by sevens. (Aleccia, 2/26)

Black professionals who hope to reach administrative positions in hospital systems know to keep their mouths shut when it comes to issues of diversity, inclusion and race. Speak out, and they risk being branded angry or difficult, labels that stick once assigned. Better to have a silent seat at the table, than no seat at all. Black professionals and those of other minority backgrounds also understand the necessity of collecting master's degrees, equipping themselves with multiple advanced diplomas and crossing their fingers that it's enough to prove they can do the job. Even if the same isn't expected of their white colleagues, it's a prerequisite for getting a toe in the door. (Livingston, 2/24)

Kathryn Clancy has spent years studying the many ways sexual harassment pervades science, from university research labs to field biology sites. This week, she’s taking those findings to Congress. The University of Illinois anthropology professor has found that harassment against women — and in particular, women of color — runs rampant in the space sciences. She’s surveyed researchers about the pervasiveness of sexual harassment and assault during scientific field work. She’s called out universities — which she says haven’t done enough to create change in research labs — to her thousands of Twitter followers. (Thielking, 2/26)

Maryland had the lowest health care costs in a comparison of five states conducted by the nonprofit Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement. The state’s total costs were on average 16 percent lower in 2015 than those in Colorado, Utah, Minnesota and Oregon, the study found. The overall price of medical procedures, doctors visits, lab test and drugs was 13 percent lower in Maryland, according to results of the comparison compiled in the report “Healthcare Affordability: Untangling Cost Drivers.” (McDaniels, 2/23)

Nurses protested outside San Mateo Medical Center in front of a sign that read “Patient safety comes from union strength” last week. They wore the characteristic bright red shirts of their own union: the California Nurses Association (CNA). They were calling attention to the U.S. Supreme Court case Janus vs. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The outcome of the case could dramatically weaken public sector unions if the court overturns a rule that requires non-union employees at union-affiliated workplaces to pay “fair share” fees. (Klivans, 2/23)

The New York State Department of Health wants people in the New York City area to know that an Australian tourist confirmed to have measles visited numerous hotels and the Metropolitan Museum of Art from Feb. 16 to 21. Measles is notoriously contagious for people without immunity to the disease, with a 90 percent infection rate for nonimmunized people who venture near an active spreader, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus latches onto the nose and throat mucus and proliferates through coughing and sneezing, with a life span of up to two hours in the open air. (Horton, 2/25)

The state's top public health agency has launched a review of the embattled Milwaukee Health Department, focusing on its handling of programs aimed at fighting lead poisoning in children under former Health Commissioner Bevan Baker. That's what Baker's successor, Patricia McManus, told members of a Common Council committee on Friday. (Johnson, 2/23)

The group founded by Milwaukee's new health commissioner has been paid more than $635,000 by the city since 2002. The Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin, founded and led by Patricia McManus until she became interim health commissioner this month, received money from both the Milwaukee Health Department and Community Development Grants Administration. (Bice and Spicuzza, 2/22)

A judge overseeing a class-action lawsuit over the quality of health care in Arizona's prisons will hold hearings this week to determine whether to fine the state for falling short in improving care for inmates. U.S. Magistrate David Duncan also will examine an allegation that the inmate-care provider skirted a promise Arizona made when it settled the lawsuit by denying care to an inmate to avoid paying a fine. (2/25)

With only two weeks left in the 2018 legislative session, proposed rules requiring generators for long-term care providers continue to await action, in part because of the financial impact on assisted living facilities. House Health & Services Chairman Travis Cummings. R-Fleming Island, continues to struggle with ratifying a rule requiring, among other things, nearly 3,0000 assisted living facilities to have backup-power generators on site. Unlike nursing homes, assisted living facilities can’t offset the costs with Medicaid funding. (2/25)

The assisted living facility and rehabilitation center, which specializes in memory problems, hosts a social club to support those with dementia in a less rigid and clinical setting than group therapy or individual counseling sessions. About 25 regulars meet on the second Tuesday of every month. The year-old gathering is one of a growing number of such clubs around the state for the estimated 100,000 Marylanders with dementia. (McDaniels, 2/26)

The voluntary program, typically offered to new parents with low-incomes, also aims to strengthen family bonds and help new parents understand all the resources available to them. ...Ramsey County has been providing home visits from nurses for roughly three decades. In 2016, St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health made 20,598 home visits to 1,139 families at a total cost of $7.3 million. With $12 million in new funding for the Minnesota Department of Health to expand similar programs, state education officials are beginning to collect data to learn more about the impact of home visits. Health experts already believe the visits pay off with a 5-to-1 return on investment. (Magan, 2/25)

The students received more than $3,000 worth of sealants — a non-painful procedure in which a protective coating is placed on teeth in order to fight tooth decay — as part of a day of oral health care. The day also offered those students and three others an opportunity to learn how to use real dental instruments while working on a model of the mouth, or oral cavity, known as a typodont, which allowed the students to practice some of the dental hygiene skills they learned during the earlier lessons. (Williams, 2/24)

Cigna has named Bryan Holgerson its new market president for its health benefits plans in Georgia and Alabama. Holgerson, based in Atlanta, has been serving as a senior leader for Cigna’s national accounts business. “Bryan is a highly respected, proven leader who will continue to move Cigna forward as the partner of choice in the market,” Rich Novack, Cigna vice president, U.S. markets, said in a statement Wednesday. “His high-energy, thoughtful leadership and expertise in executing strategy will be an asset to his team, our customers and clients in Georgia and Alabama.” (Miller, 2/22)

The man appointed to temporarily lead the Manchester VA Medical Center after several top officials were removed last summer has been named the veteran facility's director. Alfred Montoya had been serving as interim director of the Medical Center since July, when The Boston Globe reported on allegations of substandard care and treatment at the hospital. (2/24)

Steward Health Care System, the for-profit hospital chain formed in Boston more than seven years ago from the Caritas Christi network, confirmed Friday that its top management will relocate to Texas. The Globe reported in November that executives at Steward — one of Massachusetts’ biggest health care companies — were mulling a move to Dallas. (Dayal McCluskey, 2/23)

A Duluth, Minn.-based nonprofit organization wants to purchase Shadow Creek Stables in Forest Lake and build an $18 million psychiatric residential treatment facility that would include equine therapy and animal husbandry. Cambia Hills, a division of the Hills Youth and Family Services, is proposing a 60-bed facility that would serve children ages 6 to 17 who suffer from mood disorders such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. The facility would also cater to children who have neurological damage, such as fetal-alcohol syndrome; children on the autism spectrum; and children who have suffered traumatic brain injuries. The average length of treatment is expected to be nine months to a year. (Divine, 2/24)

Aurora Health Care, Wisconsin’s largest health services provider, will build a new medical center in Pleasant Prairie, just over 10 miles from the site where Foxconn Technology Group plans to build a sprawling industrial campus in Mount Pleasant. In a statement Friday, Milwaukee-based Aurora announced a $130 million ambulatory surgery center and physician office building in Pleasant Prairie. (Schmid, 2/23)

Barbara Larrimore wondered why her oldest son had only 15 minutes of recess. She wanted him to have more, so in the fall of 2016 the mother of three started advocating for more recess. “We need to address the whole child,” said Larrimore, of Lake Ridge. “This is just common sense.” Now, less than two years later, two bills that would permit Virginia school boards to increase recess times in elementary schools are making their way through the General Assembly with little opposition. Advocates like Larrimore have been joined by lawmakers in saying elementary school students need more unstructured learning. (Mattingly, 2/23)

The Department of Defense estimates 14,900 service membersexperienced some kind of sexual assault in 2016 - its most recent report. But because of the stigma - many wait decades before they get help - usually from the VA. So it’s no surprise, the average age is 45 for women and 50 for men for veterans entering the Bay Pines VA Center for Sexual Trauma Services in St. Petersburg. (O'Brien, 2/24)

Centria Healthcare, the autism therapy provider under investigation for Medicaid fraud, has been among the most generous political donors to Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, who backed the company's successful bid for an $8-million state grant. Calley, a longtime advocate for autism therapy and the father of an autistic daughter, publicly urged the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to approve Centria's grant request to expand in Michigan. Five weeks later, a key investor and board member of the company hosted a party at his Orchard Lake mansion that formally launched Calley's gubernatorial campaign, the Free Press has learned. (Wisely and Anderson 2/25)

Since 2015, America’s leading sports medicine doctor and his investment partners have sought to build a $100 million facility in Alpharetta that would create 500 jobs. But Georgia appears to be running out of time to get the project done. The surgery center and training center, envisioned as the leading destination for sports injury treatment and performance training, would go to Texas instead if Georgia doesn’t act quickly, the facility’s backers say. (Miller, 2/23)

Doctors call it a one-in-a-million birth. Identical triplets were born Thursday at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, according to hospital officials. Doctors say such births are even more rare than identical twins, and often require special care for the mother and children. In this case, baby boys Ron, Elkanah, and Abishai were born just minutes apart from each other and on Sunday were “doing wonderfully” under observation in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, according to Dr. Josh Petrikin, medical director of the NICU, who is also on staff at Children’s Mercy Hospital. (Cummings, 2/25)

At first, the management at Pope Scientific Inc. kept quiet about their new business niche. Orders for their sophisticated distillation apparatus — to the unschooled eye, tangles of tubes, flasks and valves — were flowing in, but Pope’s leaders weren’t saying much about where they were going. (Romell, 2/25)

The Trump administration's latest strike on the Affordable Care Act is to expand the availability of so-called short-term health insurance. Don't be misled by the seeming modesty of this idea. It's an impressive combination of bad policy and bad faith. First, these aren't short-term plans at all. They'd provide coverage for up to a year, much longer than required for the supposed purpose of helping people transition from one insurer to another. Second, the idea will drive up premiums for ordinary health insurance. Third, and most important, it undermines the ACA's worthy ambition to see that all Americans can get decent health insurance. Unfortunately, the administration can make this change without getting a law passed. One hopes, therefore, that the plan will be struck down by the courts or countered by state governments. (2/23)

For months, health-care experts have been warily watching the Department of Health and Human Services, waiting to see whether the Trump administration would accelerate its reckless campaign to dismantle Obamacare. Last week, they got their answer: The department proposed a disastrous rule that would promote even more turmoil in health insurance markets and harm some extremely vulnerable people. (2/25)

The federal government is threatening to limit treatment options for doctors fighting cancer. A regulatory decision due Wednesday from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could undermine the care delivered to the more than 1.6 million Americans who are diagnosed with cancer each year. At issue is whether reimbursements will be available to most physicians, hospitals and patients for a diagnostic technology known as next-generation sequencing. A cornerstone of the emerging field of precision medicine, NGS tests analyze molecular changes that occur in cancerous tumors and show up in biopsies. (Olivier Elemento, 2/25)

In a medical mecca like Boston, which is home to three medical schools and many world-class hospitals, you’d think that getting a timely appointment with a primary care physician or specialist would be a breeze. It isn’t. Finding a doctor is even harder in rural and underserved areas. Yet the public debate on health care remains focused on insurance and funding, and largely ignores the undersupply of health care professionals. Access to care means more than adequate insurance. (Jeffrey S. Flier, 2/26)

As I read about Gov. Matt Bevin’s proposal to end state funding for 70 programs because they “weren’t vital or haven’t provided a good return on investment,” I realized that Professional Education Preparation within the Council on Postsecondary Education — better known as PEPP — was on this list. Bevin must not realize what a gem this program is to our state or what purpose it serves, and what a grave mistake it would be to cut it. Since 1982, PEPP has been providing students from rural counties with a head start in the pre-medical and pre-dental fields. The goal is to better prepare students from rural areas to enter a professional field, and increase the number of physicians and dentists later practicing in underserved areas. (Emily Nichols, 2/23)

Hospitals are disappearing. While they may never completely go away, they will continue to shrink in number and importance. That is inevitable and good. The reputation of hospitals has had its ups and downs. Benjamin Rush, a surgeon general of the Continental Army, called the hospitals of his day the “sinks of human life.” Through the 19th century, most Americans were treated in their homes. Hospitals were a last resort, places only the very poor or those with no family went. And they went mainly to die. (Ezekiel J. Emanuel, 2/25)

Among opioid-addicted women, nearly nine out of 10 pregnancies are unplanned. This staggering number is less surprising given that more than 19 million American women live in contraceptive deserts--meaning they lack reasonable access to public clinics offering contraceptive methods. In addition, many women are not aware of all the birth control methods available. (Deborah Pryce, 2/25)

The United States is in the midst of at least two plagues with much in common. One is gun-fueled mass murder; the other is addiction to opioids — pain pills, heroin, fentanyl. Both are uniquely American afflictions, killing in alarming numbers. Both are revved in part by commercial interests and in part by the collapse of community in American culture. Both persist because of the erroneous belief that there’s an easy answer to these complicated problems. (Sam Guinone, 2/24)

An overdose is often a lonely way to die. Overdoses happen when a toxic amount of a drug, or a combination of drugs, overwhelms the body’s basic functions, first slowing and eventually stopping the brain’s drive to breathe. If someone notices the signs of an overdose — lips turning blue, restricted pupils, unresponsiveness, a loss of consciousness, among others — it can generally be reversed with drugs like naloxone, which saves thousands of lives a year. But someone must be there to notice. (2/24)

Elderly Kansans who are so poor as to be eligible for Medicaid already face innumerable challenges. Now, The Star reports, changes the state has made to its Medicaid application and renewal process have only added another brick to their load. The changes have created a virtual maze for destitute seniors seeking medical help. (2/25)

I remember the first time my daughter discovered her hand. The look of amazement on her face was priceless. It wasn’t long before she was putting that discovery to use, trying to put everything she could find into her mouth. Babies want to feed themselves. It sometimes feels as if parents spend more time trying to stop them than encouraging them. Over the last few years, however, some people have begun to ask if we are doing the right thing. (Aaron E. Carroll, 2/26)

The 96-year-old patient with pneumonia in Bed 11 was angry. “Do you really need to check my vital signs every four hours?” he asked. ...Treating and healing are both necessary, but modern health care too often disregards the latter.Few understand this better than the patient in Bed 11. He turned out to be Bernard Lown, emeritus professor of cardiology at Harvard, a senior physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and the founder of the Lown Cardiovascular Group. (Rich Joseph, 2/24)