May 23, 2013

You are here: Home / Archives for Department of Health

Expanded hospital infection rate records soon to be online (AUDIO)

August 20, 2010 By

Consumers will soon have ready access to state records disclosing the infection rates of Missouri hospitals.

State officials say hospital infection rate records, dating back to 2005, will be posted on the Department of Health’s Web site soon. State Health Director Margaret Donnelly says the officials who told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that it had become too costly to keep the records available online and that they were too sensitive for public review misspoke.

Donnelly says budget cuts have prevented the department from buying a new computer system.

“What we are able to do that is not cost prohibitive is to reformat the way the data will go back up on the computer and we are able to make it so that consumers will find its accessible on the Web site, looking for prior years,” Donnelly says.

The current system runs by quarters. Once we enter a new quarter the old quarter is dropped from public view.

“What would happen, though, is that we kept the data on the Web site for each 12-month period. And so, what was not on the Web site was the prior year’s history,” Donnelly says, “but we have it in the department.”

And she says it will soon be available to the public so comparisons can be made with prior years.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that infections associated with health care kill nearly 100-Thousand people in the United States each year and cost the health system up to $45 billion.

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [1:25 MP3]

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government Tagged With:

Objections raised, still abortion restrictions bill advances in Senate

April 16, 2010 By

Objections are raised, still a bill which would further restrict abortions in Missouri advances in the state senate.

Opponent Joan Bray, a Democratic senator from St. Louis, says the year-in-year-out battle to further restrict abortions sends a message to women in the state.

“Women have been beat up on in Missouri on this subject far more brutally than in most states,” Bray says during Senate floor debate on SB 793.

The bill has won initial approval. It would modify the state’s informed consent requirements for an abortion. The Department of Health would develop new printed materiel about abortions to be presented to a woman, detailing the risks of the procedure and the physiological characteristics of an unborn child. The woman would also be given the opportunity to view an ultrasound of the fetus and listen to the heartbeat, if it is audible. Information about the possible pain to the fetus an abortion inflicts must also be included.

Opponents say the bill intrudes on the doctor/patient relationship and adds many new burdensome and unnecessary requirements to the informed consent process.

Filed Under: Legislature Tagged With:

House Budget Committee Chairman calls for additonal 5% cut

February 17, 2010 By

House budget committee members have been told to cut a little deeper as the committee chairman looks ahead and sees no reason to believe state revenues are turning around any time soon.

The state budget submitted by Governor Nixon totals nearly $24 billion, which would be $2.6 billion less than the current budget. That still is too large for House Budget Committee Chairman Allen Icet (R-Wildwood) who has asked his various appropriations sub-committee chairmen to trim an extra five percent.

“Now, clearly every committee has different dynamics they have deal with so that was not a hard and fast, but see what you could do,” Icet says he instructed his six budget sub-committee chairmen. “And if you can go beyond five percent, that’s good.”

Some have taken the advice to heart with chaotic results. The House Appropriations Committee for Health, Mental Health and Social Services was thrown into disarray when it couldn’t get enough Republicans to vote for deep cuts to the departments of health and mental health. The committee went into recess until enough members were persuaded to approve the budgets.

The cuts being pushed by Icet would come in the crucial General Revenue budget which totals $7.2 billion. State tax revenues still lag well below levels necessary to pay all the state’s bills; as much as 12% below. Icet doesn’t see them rebounding over the next couple of years. The state also plans to use the remaining budget stabilization money approved by Congress, which would total at least $900 million, perhaps $1.2 billion if a promised $300 million actually comes through.

The five percent reduction target would total about $300 million. Icet worries about making up the extra federal funds.

“Next year at this time, if we do in fact have a, let’s say, a $900 million hole. If we are able to cut $300 million this year, which I don’t know if we can get to, that still leaves a $600 million hole,” Icet says. “My opinion is, again if nothing happens, there will be programs that are completely eliminated. You can’t get to $600 million by trimming around the edges.”

The health sub-committee has proposed cutting funding to crisis pregnancy centers as well as community health care centers. It recommends cutting state subsidies for domestic violence shelters.

Much time remains in the budget process. The six sub-committees funnel their recommendations to the full House Budget Committee which must approve the bills and send them to the full House for consideration. Once the House approves a budget, it moves to the Senate for consideration. The two chambers then meet to reach agreement before a final product goes to Governor Nixon for consideration.

AUDIO: Brent Martin reports [:60]

Filed Under: Legislature Tagged With: ,

H1N1 vaccine recall having little effect in Missouri

December 16, 2009 By

A federal recall of H1N1 flu vaccine shouldn’t have much of an impact on Missouri, according to state health officials

Vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur has recalled around 800,000 doses of H1N1 flu vaccine for children, because the vaccine was found to lose potency after being packaged. It has recalled 22,200 doses from Missouri.

State Health Department spokesman Kit Wager says the manufacturer is trying to determine why it lost effectiveness.

“This is a very tiny drop in the strength of the vaccine. It really is not very significant,” Wager says. “It just comes down to it didn’t meet the standard and so the buyer said, ‘Hey, I want what I paid for.’”

Health officials say the recall is merely a precaution while it is determined why some batches of vaccine lost potency when they were packaged. Only pre-filled syringes of vaccine designed for children under three years old were subject to the recall. Wager points out the recall is based on the vaccine not meeting federal standards. He says it appears it retained enough potency to ward off the Swine Flu for those vaccinated prior to the recall.

Also, Wager is quick to point out the vaccine was recalled because it lost strength, not for a safety reason.

“There was never a question about the safety of this vaccine. The vaccine has been found to be very safe. That was never an issue in the recall,” according to Wager.

Missouri has plenty of the flu vaccine from other makers. So much in fact, that state officials lifted restrictions on who could receive the H1N1 flu vaccine.

Brent Martin reports 1 min.

recallva

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With:

Group says Missouri meets disaster criteria

December 16, 2009 By

An organization that gauges how well America’s health care system can respond to a public health disaster says no state meets all ten of its criteria, but Missouri is among the two-thirds of the states able to meet seven of the ten.

The Trust for America’s Health says Missouri is on target with acquiring medicine, making beds available, processing samples and having enough staff. It’s also okay with its networking with the Centers for Disease Control, and with lining up volunteers and funding.

But the organization says the state misses the mark on identifying pathogens in food-borne outbreaks, requiring child-care facilities to have written evacuation plans, and limiting liability actions against organizations that provide volunteer help in emergencies.

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With:
« Older Posts