State Highlights: Pennsylvania Residents Fear Health Risks From Unsafe Water; Massachusetts Struggles With Turnover Of Underpaid Caregivers For Elderly

The Wall Street Journal: The Philadelphia Suburbs Where Many Don’t Drink The Water
Jessica Watson has cooked with bottled water in her spacious kitchen, with its granite countertops, ever since she became afraid to drink her tap water four years ago. About 80,000 people in three townships outside Philadelphia live in an area where the groundwater has been contaminated by chemicals used for decades in firefighting foam at two nearby decommissioned military bases. The Defense Department has cited 401 bases in the U.S. with a known or suspected release of the firefighting foam containing chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. (Maher, 2/4)

Boston Globe: Caregiver Shortage Emerges As A Crisis For Massachusetts Elders
Massachusetts is facing a growing shortage of paid caregivers for frail older and disabled residents, with thousands of jobs going unfilled and rampant turnover reported at skilled nursing homes and home care agencies across the state. At a State House hearing Tuesday, front-line care workers and senior living officials attributed the worsening shortage to low wages, lack of opportunities for advancement, and a surfeit of better-paying jobs in the hot Massachusetts economy. (Weisman, 2/4)

Georgia Health News: Latest Medicare Penalties On Patient Harm Hit 26 Georgia Hospitals
Medicare is penalizing 26 Georgia hospitals for high rates of infections and other patient injuries. They are among the 786 hospitals identified by federal health officials that will get lower payments under the patient safety program, created by the Affordable Care Act. (Miller, 2/4)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Bipartisan Support For Bills To Reauthorize New State PFAS Limits, Help Towns Cover Costs
A plan to offer loans for New Hampshire towns to cover the cost of new limits on PFAS chemicals in drinking water got bipartisan support from state lawmakers Tuesday. The state’s strict PFAS limits were supposed to take effect last fall, but are on hold under a court injunction. (Ropeik, 2/4)

Modern Healthcare: Mayo Clinic, Destination Medical Center Revamp Of Rochester Questioned By Locals
In early November, snow clings to every surface in this town, and locals dart from their cars into the warmth of low-slung buildings. The gray sky is still, save the clouds of steam dissipating off of rooftops. That is, until you get downtown. There, the largest public-private economic development project in the state’s history is taking shape. The city’s modest skyline is now dotted with high-end hotels and apartments. There are glassy, modern-looking buildings where startups dream of breakthroughs. Concrete construction barriers, chain-link fences, orange cones and cranes mark the site of the next flashy thing. (Bannow, 2/1)

The Baltimore Sun: After $229 Million Verdict, Maryland Hospitals Seek New Way To Pay For Injured Babies
A record $229 million awarded last year to a baby born with brain damage at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center is refueling an effort by the state’s hospitals to change how birthing centers pay when they are found liable for injuries. For years, the hospitals have sought to create a birth injury fund, but the push has gained little traction in the state legislature. This year the hospitals are proposing a new kind of fund that still involves the court system. The fund would pay for a lifetime of care for those who win legal judgments or settlements but eliminate giant lump sum payments by paying out on an as-needed basis, a cost control that hospitals say would preserve obstetrical care for the more than 71,000 born annually in the state. “This still allows families their day in court,” said Kevin Sowers, president of the Johns Hopkins Health System. “If we make a mistake we should be held in account.” (Cohn, 2/4)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio Lawmakers Unlikely To Address State’s Death-Penalty Problems Soon
Ohio legislative leaders indicated Tuesday that they will likely not take action anytime soon to abolish or formally freeze the state’s death penalty despite ongoing problems with finding lethal-injection drugs. Speaking at the Associated Press’ annual legislative preview event, House Speaker Larry Householder and Senate President Larry Obhof acknowledged that fellow Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is in a “dilemma” by having to repeatedly reschedule execution dates because pharmaceutical companies have refused to sell the state the drugs used in lethal injections. (Pelzer, 2/4)

Chicago Sun Times: Nearly $40 Million Worth Of Legal Weed Sold Across Illinois In January
Nearly $40 million was spent on recreational pot in Illinois in the first 31 days of legalization, marking the second largest rollout in the country’s history. Despite facing a pervasive supply shortage, 41 Illinois dispensaries sold 972,045 individual pot products totaling $39.2 million in sales, according to figures provided by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Of that, $30.6 million was spent by Illinois residents, while the rest was spent by visitors from out of state. Andy Seeger, an analyst at the Brightfield Group, a Loop-based cannabis industry research firm, noted that January’s sales totals were only trumped by California’s roughly $70 million in first month sales in 2018. Illinois is trailed by Nevada, which unloaded over $27 million worth of recreational pot when sales kicked off in 2017. (Schuba and Charles, 2/3)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Philadelphia’s International Students Face Barriers To Mental-Health Services
International students often struggle with adjustment on all levels, from language barriers to harder classes to homesickness. Tasks such as going to the bank or scheduling a doctor’s appointment can be extremely stressful, which can lead to self-doubt and lower self-esteem, making students more susceptible to anxiety and depression. Global news events taking place in their home countries can add to their stress, such as the recent coronavirus outbreak in China. Racist reactions, as have been reported in the U.S., only pile on the pressure. Seeking out help can be challenging — like other students, international students say they often wait too long for appointments. But they also struggle with opening up due to cultural stigma, and then face mental-health professionals who have too little understanding of their cultures to be truly helpful. (Ao, 2/5)

North Carolina Health News: Mental Health Advocates Use Gathering To Push For Funding, Priorities 
Hundreds of people concerned about North Carolina’s mental health system convened in Chapel Hill on Saturday morning for an annual event that’s become a prime forum for laying out the priorities and concerns of the mental health community. About 400 service providers, advocates and consumers of mental health services were joined by some two dozen county and state lawmakers for the 42nd annual Mental Health Legislative Breakfast, at UNC Chapel Hill’s Friday Center for a morning of talk, tales of life in the mental health system and opportunities to make the case to lawmakers for improved services. This year’s event saw a significant presence of leadership from the Department of Health and Human Services, with Sec. Mandy Cohen, behavioral health chief Kody Kinsley and Debra Farrington, who helps lead the state’s Medicaid program, on which many behavioral health patients rely, in attendance. (Hoban, 2/5)

The Washington Post: Surrogate Mothers Cannot Be Forced To Abort Multiples Under Bill Approved By Virginia Senate
A surrogate mother could not be forced to abort a fetus with abnormalities or reduce the number of fetuses she is carrying under a bill that won unanimous support Tuesday in the Virginia Senate. The surrogate also could not be prohibited from terminating the pregnancy, under an amendment that was critical to winning support from Democrats, who hold a majority of seats in the chamber and were opposed to the idea when it was first proposed last year. (Vozzella, 2/4)

CBS News: Priests On Sex Offender Registry Find A Home In Alternative Ministry And Independent Catholic Churches
Similar to Roman Catholic faith, the church’s website states it adheres to the seven sacraments and the Sacred Traditions, but it also stresses a message of inclusion. It ordains women, married people and those who identify in the LGBTQ community. It says that nobody is denied Holy Communion or a chance to be a part of the religious community — a welcome extended even to those with sexual misconduct in their pasts. Forsythe, now 65, offered an explanation for his past child sex abuse in a phone call with CBS News, saying he “was a very unhealthy person” in an institution “that was unhealthy for me.” “The young man I was involved with was just, like, two months shy of his 16th birthday, which would have been the age of consent in Kansas at that time. But that is neither here nor there,” Forsythe said. “God doesn’t make mistakes … what I see now is that my past experience really makes me a much more compassionate person.” And he is not the only person with a history of misconduct to be accepted as a priest in the National Catholic Church. It is part of a church system called The National Catholic Church of North America, but it is not affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Forsythe was hired as a priest there in 2005, according to the church. The alternative diocese is home to about 200 parishioners in seven parishes in Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Washington, D.C. (Cohen, 2/5)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Influenza Rise In Milwaukee: Wisconsin Health Officials Urge Flu Shots
As cases of coronavirus have soared in recent days in China, Milwaukee health officials said the influenza outbreak was a more pressing issue locally. Four times as many people have been hospitalized in Milwaukee for the flu this season compared with last season, Mayor Tom Barrett said Tuesday at a news conference. There have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Wisconsin. (Carson, 2/4)

The CT Mirror: Lamont’s New Budget Takes Aim At Vaping, Debt-Free College Program
Gov. Ned Lamont will unveil a revised budget Wednesday that bans flavored vaping liquids, including menthol, and places new restrictions on the debt-free community college program, according to sources briefed on the plan late Tuesday. And while it includes no major tax hikes, sources said the governor’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year would increase the levy adopted last May on e-cigarettes, offer an amnesty program for captive insurance companies, and impose a new surcharge on those who pay for state licenses and permits by credit card. (Phaneuf, 2/5)

MPR: MN House Leaders Not Committing To Floor Vote On Legal Cannabis This Session
Democrats in the Minnesota House say they are preparing a marijuana legalization bill for the upcoming legislative session, but they’re no longer promising a floor vote. The legislation will be based on input gathered during a series of 15 public meetings over the past few months, said House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley. (Pugmire, 2/4)

Kaiser Health News: Good Rehab Is Hard To Find
Pattie Vargas saw with frightening clarity that her son Joel, 25 at the time, had a life-threatening drug problem. He came home one day in 2007 “high as a kite,” went to bed and slept four days straight, Vargas, now a 65-year-old resident of Vacaville, California, recalls. As Joel lay listless, a terrified Vargas realized her son needed help, but she didn’t quite know where to start. She searched online and dialed the number of a treatment center she found. (Wolfson, 2/5)