Obamacare among issues fueling campaign to unseat House GOP moderates
The same groups that used the wedge issue of Obamacare to unseat moderate Republican senators two years ago are targeting several House members for defeat in Tuesday’s GOP primary. But this time around, their efforts are being countered by groups that have organized to reverse the recent conservative tide in Kansas politics. TheKansas Values Institute and…
JOCO audit highlights security issues, other concerns in mental health operation
The Johnson County Mental Health Center has not resolved long-standing security concerns to protect employees at its Shawnee location, according to an internal audit presented to the board of commissioners Thursday. The audit, conducted by Interim County Auditor Ken Kleffner, said that the mental health agency had rejected security recommendations made in 2007 “because management…
How will new NCAA head injury guidelines affect players?
From PBS NewsHour The National Collegiate Athletic Association agreed to settle a number of cases brought in a class-action head injury lawsuit. The proposed settlement, which must still be approved by a federal judge, would create a $70 million fund for concussion testing and diagnosis of current and former athletes. NewsHour’s Gwen Ifill talks to…
Ex-employees of KC-area hospitals sold to Prime Healthcare sue over severance pay
Just days after Prime Healthcare Services agreed to buy two Kansas City-area hospitals, laid-off employees of two other area hospitals owned by Prime sued the company, claiming they were not provided with promised severance benefits. The suit seeks class-action status on behalf of other terminated employees. It says 49 workers were let go immediately after…
Company seeking to buy KC-area Catholic hospitals inspires condemnation, admiration
Update: Prime Healthcare Services now faces a lawsuit from employees laid off from two other Kansas City-area the company owns. Co-authored by Dan Margolies, health editor at KCUR, Kansas City Public Media. Prime Healthcare Services, the for-profit California health care company that has agreed to acquire two nonprofit Kansas City area hospitals, is no stranger to…
2014 primary candidates for Kansas insurance commissioner
No fewer than five candidates are seeking the Republican nomination for Kansas insurance commissioner, an office that has been dominated by Republicans since its creation in 1871. In the 20th century, only one Democrat has held the office, Kathleen Sebelius, who used it as a springboard to become Kansas governor in 2003 and, in 2009,…
Carondelet Health Agrees To Sell Two KC-area Hospitals
A West Coast hospital company has agreed to acquire two hospitals and other related facilities as part of a deal with Kansas City, Mo.-based Carondelet Health, the parties announced Monday. The buyer is Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services, which has signed a letter of intent that includes the acquisition of St. Joseph Medical Center in…
New Missouri law pays dividends for Kansas City CARE Clinic
A year and a half ago, a local safety-net clinic underwent one of the most significant changes in its more than four decades of serving the metropolitan area: it went from a purely free provider to one that also accepted paying patients covered by insurance. Known for years as the Kansas City Free Health Clinic,…
Hub key to sustaining local food movement In Northeast Kansas
The now well-established local food movement in and around the university community of Lawrence is in danger of stalling unless a concerted effort is made to expand its reach beyond an already committed group of consumers and build more demand for locally grown or produced fruits, vegetables and meats. That’s the conclusion of a recent…
KU docs say proposed cure for transplant waits would make local patients sicker
When Steve Jobs needed a liver transplant in 2009, the Apple CEO left California and went to Memphis, Tenn. While his home state has some of the longest waiting lists in the country for donated livers, Tennessee has some of the shortest. Many health advocates point to Jobs’ story as an example of the harsh disparities…
Student poets slam dropout crisis through spoken word contest
Unique Hughley likes to compose poetry by the glow of his iPhone while he walks around at night through the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri, where he grew up. “I grew up in a bad place. I grew up right on Prospect and that’s like a horrible place where I come from,” Hughley said….
KC Week In Review: The Missouri Transportation Tax Debate
Critics call it the biggest tax increase in Missouri history. Proponents call Amendment 7 on the August 5 ballot a crucial vote to improve highways, bridges and transit in the state. The 3/4 cent sales tax increase would bring in more than $5 billion dollars over 10 years and add about 8 cents to a…
Med school program emphasizes career possibilities for urban teens
Shannon North can preach and preach to her students that their aspirations are achievable, that advanced education is attainable. And she does just that, as the college and career facilitator at Hogan Preparatory Academy in Kansas City, Mo. The charter school, at 1221 E. Meyer Blvd., has a student population where virtually all the attendees…
Missouri becomes third state to enact ‘Right To Try’ drug therapy law
Missouri residents who have exhausted conventional disease cures will have access to experimental drugs under legislation signed on Monday by Gov. Jay Nixon. The so-called Right to Try legislation gives patients and their doctors the ability to procure drugs that have yet to gain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration if the pharmaceutical…
KC Week in Review: Meet KC’s new Tourism & Convention chief
Nick Haines dissects the convention business with the new chief of Kansas City’s Convention and Visitors Association, Ronnie Burt. Also on this edition: Missouri transportation sales tax, Tea Party candidate Milt Wolf, Google Fiber comes to Overland Park and other stories with news reviewers Garrett Haake, 41 Action News, Steve Kraske, KCUR and Dave Helling…