Hospital Leader Challenges Brownback On Innovation, Medicaid Comments

The head of the Kansas Hospital Association is taking issue with comments made by Gov. Sam Brownback at a recent news conference. Asked about his continuing opposition to Medicaid expansion, Brownback downplayed the importance of the issue, telling reporters that innovation is more important to hospital finances than the billions of additional federal dollars that expansion would…

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Missouri’s Refusal To Expand Medicaid Leaves Hospitals Feeling The Pain

It’s a sweltering Monday afternoon, and in the emergency room of Truman Medical Centers near downtown Kansas City, a patient complains of excruciating abdominal pain. The attending physician advises her there’s only so much he can do. “The reality is you can get whatever pain medication I’m able to give you in an effort to…

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Why Kansas rural hospitals struggle to survive

There are a lot of small, rural hospitals in Kansas. Without them, many Kansans would have to travel long distances for care. What’s more, in many small towns, the hospital is one of the largest employers — making it vital to the local economy.

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A call for doctors to make concussions safer

Dr. Joseph Waeckerle says he’s always been interested in sports medicine because athletes are usually highly motivated to get better and get back on the field. Put simply, they’re better patients. But now doctors know more about concussions than they did when Waeckerle, a longtime Kansas City physician, studied sports medicine in the 1970s. “In…

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