Take a Peek Inside the New Cooper Green Mercy Health
The new Jefferson County clinic and medical facility is set to open in mid-December. Read more.
Health Care
UAB Prez: Purchase of Ascension St. Vincent’s to Ensure Health-Care Access
The UAB Health System is set to take over Ascension St. Vincent’s Health System properties in Central Alabama in a $450 million deal officials said would ensure continuing quality health care for people in Birmingham and surrounding communities. Read more.
Health Officials Watching Hospitals During the Season of Flu, COVID and RSV
The normal winter flu season is in full swing in Alabama, but this year COVID and RSV are joining the mix. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks the state among seven others with the highest rates for respiratory disease. Alabama health officials say there has been a 3.2% increase in hospital admissions statewide for the three viral diseases, but there is no shortage of treatment facilities or hospital beds across the state. But they warn that, with the workplace and schools opened after the holidays, the numbers could climb. Read more.
JeffCo Considers Forgiving Development Group’s Debt, Moving Coroner’s Office to Park
A resolution moved to the agenda of Thursday’s Jefferson County Commission meeting would forgive more than $1 million owed to the county from Jefferson County Economic and Industrial Development Authority. The county would also execute a purchase agreement with JCEIDA for land in the Lakeshore Jeffmet Park for the new office space of the Jefferson County Coroner/Medical Examiner. The purchase agreement for the land, valued at $700,000, would not be a cash transaction but would help offset the remaining JCEIDA debt being forgiven. County Manager Cal Markert called the authority “one of the most successful economic development groups in the state, if not the most.” Read more.
10 Medicaid Holdout States Scramble to Improve Health Coverage
The Republican-led states that have refused to expand Medicaid are trying a variety of strategies to save struggling hospitals and cover more people without full expansion, which was one of the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. In Alabama, a single parent with two children can’t qualify for Medicaid if he or she makes more than $4,476 per year. Read more.
Alabama’s Health Care System for Women Ranks Near the Bottom of This New Scorecard
The Commonwealth Fund’s new report includes 12 new measures that evaluate and rank states on reproductive services and women’s health care. Read more.
Heart Disease, Hypertension Take Toll on Alabama Women
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women, both nationally and in Alabama. Alabama had the third-highest rate of death from heart disease in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only trailing Oklahoma and Mississippi. That year, the death rate from heart disease for Alabama women was 193.7 per 100,000, compared to 135.6 for women nationwide. Read more.
To Improve Birth Outcomes for Uninsured Moms, Birmingham is Training More Doulas
The city of Birmingham has teamed up with BirthWell Partners’ community doula project to sponsor 32 trainees to work in underserved communities. Read more.
Health Advocates Hope Narcan’s Over-the-Counter Status Will Bypass Alabama’s Strict Laws
Public health officials say the federal rule change should expand access to the overdose-reversing medication, after years of navigating tough state restrictions on who can dispense Narcan. Read more.
U.S. Judge Rules Insurers Don’t Have to Cover Many Free Preventive Health Services
WASHINGTON — Health insurance companies may no longer need to cover a wide swath of preventive health care services that were required by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, under a federal judge’s ruling issued Thursday in Texas. The decision could affect millions of Americans’ access to no-cost preventive health care — including pregnancy-related care, cancer screenings, HIV prevention pharmaceuticals and more — that a federal agency given new powers under Obamacare required health insurance companies to cover. Read more.