Features

What Impact Do Medication Errors Have On Nursing Home Residents?

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WILEY News:
 
A new analysis points to surprisingly low rates of serious impacts from medication errors affecting nursing home residents, despite the fact that these errors remain fairly common.
 
The investigators noted that it’s unclear whether medication errors resulting in serious outcomes are truly infrequent or are under-reported due to the difficulty in ascertaining them. The findings are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
 
Medication errors can cause considerable harm, and older adults in nursing homes may be especially
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Health Action New Mexico Commends Governor Martinez For Vowing To Protect Health Coverage Gains

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HANM News:
 
ALBUQUERQUE ― Gov. Susana Martinez made clear that health coverage gains under the Affordable Care Act must be protected. According to the Associated Press, the Governor “has offered assurances that people won’t be left without health insurance as President-elect Donald Trump and fellow Republicans seek to overhaul the Affordable Care Act.”
 
More than 300,000 New Mexicans have gained coverage thanks to the Affordable Care Act, causing the uninsured rate to drop to historic lows.
 
 “We commend Governor Martinez for her commitment
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Cancer Comes In Colors Other Than Pink … November Is National Lung Cancer Awareness Month

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CANCER News:
 
October has now left us and we have gone through a blizzard of pink on the playing fields of the NFL.
 
Celebrities have spoken of breast cancer awareness and pink t-shirts and ribbons seem to be everywhere. The National Breast Cancer Foundation has done a fantastic job of building awareness and fundraising for research. So much so that the survival rate for breast cancer is now at 89%.
 
Other colors and cancers have not done so well. Pearl is the color for lung cancer and November is Lung Cancer awareness month. You will not see any
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IRS Opens New Registration For 2017 Advance Monthly Payments Of Health Coverage Tax Credit

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IRS News:
 
PHOENIX ― The Internal Revenue Service has opened the new registration and enrollment process for qualified taxpayers to receive the benefit of the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC) on an advance monthly basis during 2017.
 
Eligible taxpayers can have 72.5 percent of their qualified health insurance premiums paid in advance directly to their health plan administrator each month. Each payment made on their behalf to the health plan administrator lowers their out-of-pocket premium costs.
 
Taxpayers may be eligible to elect the HCTC only if they are one
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LAPS Announces Kristine Coblentz As Healthy Schools Program Director

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Healthy Schools Program Director Kristine Coblentz

LAPS News:

Last week Kristine Coblentz joined Los Alamos Public Schools as director of the new Healthy Schools Program.

The position was created as a result of the work of LAPS’ Mental Health Task Force and the Schools Board’s Strategic Plan, which prioritizes student and staff well-being as one of its eight focus areas. Coblentz reports to LAPS Superintendent, Dr. Kurt Steinhaus.

Coblentz will be working closely with a team that includes school clinical psychologist Dr. Christine Hazard, Prevention Coordinator Bernadette Read More

Harold Fishbine Founded Town’s First Big Band

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Local resident Harold Fishbine started the first big band in Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com
 
The Keynotes on stage during the Manhattan Project. Harold Fishbine and his bass are at top left. Courtesy/Harold Fishbine

By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post

Soldier Harold Fishbine was with the rest of his unit in California in the early 1940s, expecting to be sent to the Pacific. Then, out of the blue, he received orders to report to Santa Fe. He had no idea what it meant.

When he arrived at 109 East Palace in Santa Fe and was greeted by a nice Read More

Fundraiser Underway For Zee Stidham

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Tony and Zandree (Zee) Stidham in October before they left for her bone marrow transplant in Denver. Courtesy photo
 
Zandree Stidham moments before her bone marrow transplant last month in Denver. Courtesy photo

Staff Report

A local 35-year-old assistant professor of English, wife, mother and aspiring writer has just undergone a lifesaving bone marrow transplant at the Colorado Blood Cancer Institute in Denver. 

Zandree (Zee) Stidham was diagnosed with Essential Thrombocythemia or ET (a disease in the same family as Leukemia and Lymphoma) in January 2010. After

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SFCC Hosts Great American Smokeout Nov. 17

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SFCC News:
 
Santa Fe Community College Hosts an American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout event noon-1:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17 in the SFCC Jemez Room at 6401 Richards Ave. .
 
Make it a smoke-free day. Learn about cessation resources, the dangers of second- and third-hand smoke to non-smokers, the effects on dental health and the truth about e-cigarettes.
 
Program participants include the American Lung Association, New Mexico Department of Health, SFCC Dental Department, SFCC Respiratory Care Program and Smiles of Santa Fe.
 
Call 505.428.1665, for information.
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Heinrich To Hold Rural Health Care Listening Tour

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U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich
 
SENATE News:
 
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) will be holding a multi-day rural health care listening tour to meet with medical professionals and discuss tele-health for veterans, recruiting and retaining staff, and other issues facing New Mexico’s growing health care industry.
 
Beginning Monday, Nov. 7, he toured the Guadalupe County Hospital, a new Veterans Tele-Health Clinic in Mosquero, the Union County Hospital, and the Miners’ Colfax Medical Center, and convene listening sessions
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State Auditor Releases Special Audit Of UNMH’s Indigent Care Program

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State Auditor Tim Keller
 
STATE News:
 
SANTA FE ― State Auditor Tim Keller released a special audit Nov. 4 of the Indigent Care Program at the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH).
 
Advocates and policymakers have long sought more transparency about revenues and expenses related to healthcare for economically disadvantaged people. The special audit, conducted by an independent audit firm, examined UNMH’s indigent care costs and funding from fiscal year 2014 to 2016.
 
The audit found that UNMH had a total funding shortfall of more than $60 million, despite a reduction
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