State Highlights: Maine Voters Consider Overturning Vaccination Law Banning Religious Exemptions; Los Angeles Officials Study Ways To Overhaul Or Replace Agency On Homeless

The Washington Post: Maine’s Stricter Law On Vaccination Requirements Up For A Vote
When Maine’s voters head to the polls in the presidential primaries Tuesday, they also will cast a vote on an issue many physicians wish had never been politicized — a referendum to overturn a new law that would allow unvaccinated children to attend school only if they have received a waiver from a medical professional. The new law, which would take effect in September 2021, aims to boost immunization among school-age children in a state where just over 5 percent of kindergartners are unvaccinated not only for medical reasons but because of their parents’ religious or philosophical beliefs. That puts Maine below the 95 percent threshold that public health officials say is necessary to stop the spread of preventable and sometimes deadly diseases like the measles. (Sellers, 3/2)

Kaiser Health News: Maine Voters Consider U-Turn On Vaccine Exemptions
As Mainers head to the polls on Super Tuesday for the presidential primary, they also will decide another issue: vaccine requirements. A statewide referendum asks if voters want to overturn a new law that eliminates religious and philosophical exemptions for childhood vaccines. Molly Frost of Newcastle wants the new law to stay. Her 11-year old son, Asa, has a compromised immune system. (Wight, 3/3)

Los Angeles Times: L.A.’s Top Homeless Services Agency Could Be In For Overhaul
Given its name, it’s not surprising that many view the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority as a one-stop shop for solving the county’s homelessness crisis. Yet it’s the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services that tends to people on the streets with physical ailments and the Department of Mental Health that serves mentally ill homeless people. And it’s the city that has taken the responsibility of building permanent supportive housing, and it’s the county that funds the services. And the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that works with homeless veterans. (Smith and Oreskes, 3/2)

Modern Healthcare: What’s At Stake In This Suburban Chicago Hospital Tax Tussle
Oak Lawn officials are fighting Advocate’s bid for a tax break on a new outpatient center near its Christ Medical Center in the village. While hospitals owned by nonprofits like Advocate have long qualified for property tax exemptions, stand-alone outpatient centers usually pay property taxes. The dispute comes at a time when hospitals are opening outpatient centers across metropolitan Chicago amid pressure to bring down healthcare costs. (Goldberg, 3/2)

Georgia Health News: Debate On Ethylene Oxide Bill Adds To Furor Over Toxic Gas 
The controversy over the toxic gas ethylene oxide spilled over into the Georgia General Assembly on Monday. A House panel approved legislation to require companies to notify state regulators of any “unpermitted release” or leak of the chemical, which is used to sterilize medical equipment. Releases of ethylene oxide from sterilizing facilities have sparked community protests in two areas of metro Atlanta in recent months. (Miller, 3/2)

The Oklahoman: OU Medicine Offers First Robotic Spine Surgery In State
With the addition of a fellowship-trained neurosurgeon who specializes in minimally invasive and complex spine surgery, OU Medicine has become the first health care system in Oklahoma to offer robotic spine surgery. Zachary A. Smith, M.D., who recently joined the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, has established his practice with OU Physicians and taken a key role in the newly formed robotic spine surgery team at OU Medicine. (Roach, 3/3)

North Carolina Health News: Eastern NC Communities To Map Their Way Out Of Hunger 
Organizations from five counties with high food insecurity rates will participate in creating a map of their food ecosystem. The information they gather will be used to guide food policy decisions in the region. (Engel-Smith, 3/3)

Capital Gazette: Anne Arundel Medical Center To Open New $30M Health Care Facility 
Receiving care for a mental health crisis in Anne Arundel County often comes in the form of an hours-long wait in the emergency room and a referral to a psychiatric hospital that’s miles away or out of the county, health officials say. Anne Arundel Medical Center officials hope to mitigate that problem with its new, $30 million four-floor psychiatric hospital that includes 16 inpatient beds for residents in crisis. (Price, 3/3)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Buzz Kill? Missouri Lawmakers Have Their Own Ideas For Medical Marijuana Program 
Lawmakers have begun digging through the constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana that nearly two-thirds of voters approved in 2018. In some cases, they don’t like what they see — and they’re intent on making changes. The House last week narrowly approved a plan to require an in-person doctor appointment for people seeking a state medical marijuana ID card. There is nothing currently stopping consultations done over the phone or on the internet. (Suntrup, 3/2)