Healthcare
Getting Innovators To Come To Work — At A Children’s Hospital
Health care providers who work with kids are natural innovators, says Krista Nelson, Children’s Mercy Hospital’s director of innovation development. Nelson, an expert in innovation — not medicine, was hired by the hospital to run its new Center for Pediatric Innovation. “In the children’s hospital or pediatric environment, we really deal with every size of…
Missouri Lawmakers Debate Whether Pregnancy Resource Centers Must Provide Science-Backed Information
You don’t have to drive far in Missouri to see billboards offering help to pregnant women. They’re part of the state’s Alternatives to Abortion program, which has seen a big increase in public funding in recent years. This year’s legislative debate on the program focuses on a new question: What kind of information should these…
Doctors Caught In Middle As Travel Ban Intersects With Rural Recruitment
Dr. Saeedeh Salmanzadeh became a U.S. citizen at a naturalization ceremony in October 2015. When the presiding official asked if any of the new citizens wanted to speak, she was one of the first to raise her hand. By then Salmanzadeh had spent 15 years in America, after leaving her home in Iran where she…
In The Face Of More Missouri Abortion Restrictions, One Woman Tells Her Story
Anti-abortion groups in Missouri helped boost many Republican candidates to victory in November, and they’re now eagerly waiting to see how those lawmakers advance their cause. Missouri legislators have filed dozens of restrictive abortion bills, including two that would outlaw abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy rather than the current 21-weeks and six days….
The High Cost Of Allowing Concealed Carry In KU Hospital
The fight is raging on in Topeka over whether to roll back a law that would let almost anyone carry a concealed gun on a college campus, in a library or public hospital. The debate has mostly been around whether guns enhance or detract from people’s safety. Less talked about is just how much allowing…
Medicine By Monthly Fee Expanding In Kansas: Is KanCare Next?
Dr. Damon Heybrock’s office doesn’t look like a traditional medical clinic. Heybrock finished converting a two-story row house into a medical practice in September, putting exam tables in the bedrooms and a centrifuge for lab tests next to the kitchen sink. Original pieces by Kansas City artists cover the walls of the clinic in Westwood,…
Don’t Like Doctor Visits? Medical Giant Offers Patients DIY Health Tools
When Amanda January was growing up in Gardner, Kansas, regular doctor’s visits weren’t a regular thing at all. “When I was a kid we almost never went to the doctor,” January says. “I was rarely sick. My siblings were rarely sick. We just didn’t go.” She’s now a dancer and Pilates teacher who works hard…
KC-Area Philanthropists Come Up Big To Fight Pediatric Cancer
With the infusion of $10 million in philanthropic support, two of the region’s largest medical centers have established four high-level research positions aimed at making Kansas City an international hub in the fight against pediatric cancers. Children’s Mercy Hospital and The University of Kansas Cancer Center announced the new endowed chairs Monday evening at the…
Marijuana Activist Loses KS Court Case
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by a Garden City, Kansas, mother who lost custody of her son over her use of cannabis oil in an incident that drew national attention. In a brief four-page order Dec. 27, U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten dismissed the action, finding that Shona Banda had…
The Wrong Eating Habits Can Hurt Your Brain, Not Just Your Waistline
A diet high in saturated fats and sugars can affect the parts of the brain that are important to memory. Diet-linked brain changes can also make people more likely to crave the unhealthful food.