Heartland Health Monitor
Kansas City Council approves health funding increase
The Kansas City Council on Thursday approved a $1.5 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year that boosts spending from health fund reserves to pay for indigent care. After some last-minute lobbying from providers, the council took $300,000 from the reserve to bump up next year’s allocation for Samuel U. Rodgers Health Center and Children’s Mercy…
Mental Health Crisis Center Set to Open Ahead Of Schedule
A new 16-bed mental health crisis center on Kansas City’s East Side could open as much as two months ahead of early projections. The target date is now July 1. Details approved this month by the City Council call for a $1 million contribution from Missouri-side hospitals toward annual operating costs of the Kansas City…
Take 5 For Your Health
Missouri Law Restricting Insurance Navigators Is Pre-Empted By ACA, Judge Rules A federal judge says that Obamacare navigators may dispense advice to those looking for insurance under the federal health reform law. U.S. District Judge Ortrie Smith on Wednesday struck down provisions of a Missouri law that bars insurance navigators from giving advice about health…
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Kansas Nursing Homes Struggle To Cope With Medicaid Processing Backlogs Judy Kregar is not a member of the Rotary Club in nearby Greensburg, but she decided to go when she heard Gov. Sam Brownback would be at the club’s recent meeting. Kregar, the administrator of a small nursing home in nearby Bucklin, wanted to tell…
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Doctors Warn Of (Another) Early, Intense Spring Allergy Season In Kansas City The early spring weather Kansas City is expected to enjoy this weekend can be a mixed blessing for allergy sufferers. Doctors at Children Mercy Hospital in Kansas City report surges in pollen and mold have accompanied the blips of early warm weather the…
Does Zapping The Brain With Electricity Boost Creativity?
Would you wire your head to a battery if you thought it might help boost your brain function? A quick Internet search turns up lots of videos of at-home tinkerers with electrodes strapped to their heads and nervous looks on their faces. Inspired by anecdotes and a handful of studies showing it can temporarily improve…
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Amid Financial Troubles, Company Closes Two Kansas Ethanol Plants Financial problems at one of the world’s leading biofuels companies are causing ripples in the Kansas economy. The Spanish company, Abengoa Bioenergy, opened a state-of-the-art ethanol plant in October 2014 near Hugoton. Gov. Sam Brownback greeted the grand opening as a shot in the arm for the…
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North-Central Kansas County Copes With Soaring Alzheimer’s Rate Almost every day, Jay Mellies leaves his home in Clay Center and drives about 20 miles north to visit his wife at a nursing home in neighboring Washington County. Some days when he comes in she tells staff, “I don’t know that guy.” Then she smiles. It’s a…
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Topeka Child Abuse Case Raises Questions About Kansas Policy On Gay Adoptions The arrest of a Topeka couple on child abuse charges has raised new questions about a custody battle that some say illustrates a pattern of discrimination against gay Kansans seeking to adopt children. The 2014 custody case pitted a lesbian couple from Wichita,…
Green Bean Casserole Is A Midwestern Holiday Classic Born Back East
Move over turkey. Step aside stuffing. Green Bean Casserole, an iconic Thanksgiving dish, turns 60 years old this year and it’s as popular as ever. Love it or loathe it, the classic Midwestern casserole has come to mean more than just a mashup of processed food sitting next to the mashed potatoes. “Green Bean casserole…