Healthcare

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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Study Indicates Higher Injury Rates For High School Athletes Who Specialize In One Sport

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Study reveals that student athletes who specialize in a single sport sustain lower-extremity injuries at significantly higher rates than athletes who do not specialize in one sport. Courtesy/NFHS

NFHS News:

INDIANAPOLIS — A study conducted by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and funded by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Foundation revealed that high school athletes who specialize in a single sport sustain lower-extremity injuries at significantly higher rates than athletes who do not specialize in one sport.

The study Read More

Mutational Signatures Mark Cancer’s Smoking Gun

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Research on mutational signatures in the genome of cancer cells shows that smoking increases the risk of several cancer types by raising the overall number of mutations, even in tissue not directly exposed to smoke. Courtesy/Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

LANL News:

 

A broad computational study of cancer genome sequences identifies telltale mutational signatures associated with smoking tobacco and demonstrates, for the first time, that smoking increases cancer risk by causing somatic mutations in tissues directly and indirectly exposed to tobacco smoke. The international Read More

Letter To The Editor: A Letter To The Los Alamos Community And My Patients

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By Dr. Phillip Hertzman
 
After practicing medicine for more than 39 years at Los Alamos Medical Center, I will be closing the Los Alamos office of Los Alamos Family Practice and Vein Care of New Mexico Nov. 29.
 
I received an impersonal letter from a representative of ‘PHC-Los Alamos Inc d/b/a Los Alamos Medical Center” in Brentwood, Tenn., threatening eviction from my current office 30 days after they purchase the property from Los Alamos National Bank. As of late October Los Alamos Medical Center was not the owner of this property. 
 
It is astonishing that after having
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Scenes From LAMC’s Annual Halloween Event

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Staff and family gather at Los Alamos Medical Center Friday for the annual Halloween event open to the entire community. Staff decorate their departments and give treats to trick-or-treaters. Photo by Raphael Edralin

Scene from Friday’s annual Halloween event at Los Alamos Medical Center at which doctors and staff dress up and greet the community. Photo by Raphael Edralin

Scene from Friday’s annual Halloween event at Los Alamos Medical Center at which doctors and staff dress up and greet the community. Photo by Raphael Edralin

Scene from Friday’s annual Halloween event Read More

Public Turns In Nearly 366 Tons Of Drugs To DEA

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Acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg

DEA News:

  • Safe disposal of unused medications addresses opioid epidemic

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Six years after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) launched its National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, Americans continue to turn out in large numbers to rid their homes of unused medications, including controlled prescription drugs (CPDs) such as painkillers, tranquilizers, and stimulants.

The public turned in 731,269 pounds—almost 366 tons—of medication to DEA Oct. 22, and more than 4,000 of its community partners at almost Read More

DaVita Dialysis Center Opens In Los Alamos

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From left, DaVita Dialysis Center Medical Director and Los Alamos board-certified nephrologist David Mills, MD, Regional Coordinator Kat Reher, RN Gloria Diaz and Facility Administrator Sammy Benavidez in front of the new facility during Monday’s open house. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

Joe Vigil, center, is the first patient at DaVita Dialysis Center. he attended Monday’s open house and is shown here with RN Gloria Diaz and Facility Administrator Sammy Benavidez. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com

DaVita Dialysis Center front lobby. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com Read More

Local Students Support Purple Pinky/Polio Eradication

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Rotarian Steve Ciddio, Rotary friend Debbie Claytor, Rotarians Jane Phillips and Sarah Rochester salute Purple Pinky Day with little fingers raised at Chamisa Elementary School as they wait for students to  participate in Rotary Club’s Purple Pinky project. Rotarians not shown include Rob Metcalf, Alison Pannell, Linda King, Mary Burns, Nancy Cerutti, Ed Van Eeckhout, Antonya Sanders, Chuck Tallman and Kim Selvage. Photo by Nancy Cerutti
 

ROTARY News:

 
To commemorate World Polio Day, Oct. 23, the Rotary Club of Los Alamos sponsored a Purple
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Report: NM Strengthens Mental Health Care System

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NMHSD News:
 
SANTA FE ― New Mexico Human Services Department Cabinet Secretary Brent Earnest announced that New Mexico improved 14 spots, from 36 to 22, in Mental Health America’s annual rankings, “The State of Mental Health in America 2017.”
 
The state’s vastly improved overall rank shows a lower prevalence of mental illness and higher rates of access to mental health care in New Mexico.
 
“The Human Services Department continues to strengthen our state’s behavioral health system as we prioritize providing care and treatment to the most vulnerable New Mexicans,”
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