Category: Health Care
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How UVa Addresses Student Loneliness, Depression
by James A. Bacon A new preoccupation of college administrators across the United States is how to give students a sense of “belonging.” The concern is understandable. There is increasing awareness that America is experiencing a “loneliness” epidemic, as reflected by a 40% rate nationally of anxiety, depression and other diagnosed mental illnesses among college…
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Student Mental Health Crisis Explained – By The Washington Post
by James C. Sherlock The Washington Post, in a lengthy article, “The crisis of student mental health is much vaster than we realize,” wrote about the mental health crisis facing our school children, especially adolescents. Nationally, adolescent depression and anxiety — already at crisis levels before the pandemic — have surged amid the isolation, disruption…
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Richmond Community Hospital: Poster Child for Reforming 340B
By Dr. William S. Smith and Chris Braunlich Nonprofit hospitals in low-income neighborhoods should be the backbone of the American safety net system for low-income people who lack insurance. Instead, thanks to a federal program called 340B, many nonprofit hospitals have made maximizing revenue their primary goal, not providing charity care. Thanks to a New…
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Profoundly Unethical: UVa Children’s Hospital Hides Child Gender Transition Information from Public Scrutiny
by James C. Sherlock I published a series of articles earlier this year that criticized the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital on its approach to gender transition in minors as young as 11. As a result, the hospital made at least some movement towards change by announcing it was assigning pediatric clinical psychologists to join…
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Virginia Mental Health Services in Deep Trouble – A Survey
by James C. Sherlock Nov. 29 updates in blue. Supply cannot begin to keep up with demand. In this case, the consequences involve personal welfare and public safety. And they can be terrible in both cases. Governor Youngkin will propose to the 2023 General Assembly additional funding and policy prescriptions for the state’s mental health…
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Homelessness in Petersburg – Part 2
by James C. Sherlock I wrote yesterday about the excellent investigative reporting by the Progress-Index about the knock-on effects of the renewal of fire and building code enforcement in Petersburg. My position is that Petersburg must enforce its codes for public safety and the livability of the city. But I also recognize the need to provide…
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Virginia Should Enforce Threat Assessment Laws. Noting Lack of Compliance Not Enough.
by James C. Sherlock I have written about the Threat Assessment Teams (TAT’s) of two state universities, the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. I assessed Tech to be compliant with state law. I reported that UVa is not. That of course raises the issue of the rest of Virginia’s colleges and universities. The Virginia…
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Petersburg Resumes Important Actions Against City Code Violators — Homeless Needs Increase
by James C. Sherlock Sometimes absolutely necessary actions have more than one outcome. Such is the case in Petersburg. Joyce Chu of Petersburg’s indispensable Progress- Index last evening initiated a multi-part series on the impacts of the city’s closure due to safety violations of two motels used by otherwise homeless people. Her first article makes…
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Hospital Quality Matters – A Lot
by James C. Sherlock A recent note from a reader brought up the issue of emergency room quality. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported that Virginians made 423 ER visits per 1,000 population in 2017 (the most recent data available). That number doesn’t have to be current to be attention-grabbing. VDH’s vhi.org does not report on quality…
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Is Inova the Best Regional Hospital System in America? How about Virginia’s Others?
by James C. Sherlock Answer: Inova is at least in the mix for that title. Fewer than 14% of the hospitals in the country have 5-star quality ratings from Medicare. Another 29% are rated 4-stars. Inova operates five hospitals. Three of them are rated 5-stars (of 9 in the state) and two 4-stars by Medicare.…
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Virginia Hospitals’ Quality Ratings – Which Need Improvement?
by James C. Sherlock Medicare star ratings for Virginia hospitals constitute a high stakes game in every respect. It’s the best information a consumer can get. Careers in hospital management rise and fall on the results. All Virginians should pay attention. I’ll list our best hospitals in another article, but we’ll look today at those…
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Opioid Epidemic Costs Virginians $3.5 Billion a Year
Over and above the lives it has destroyed, the opioid epidemic cost Virginia’s economy about $3.5 billion in 2020, according to data published by the Virginia Department of Health. The major costs calculated include lost labor, health care and crime. Mapping the costs by locality, the database shows per-capita costs ranging from $132 in Falls…
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Britain Makes Major Changes to Treatment of Minors with Gender Incongruence
by James C. Sherlock Reuters led off a progressive-leaning but unusually balanced and in-depth report on transgender children with the words: Across the United States, thousands of youths are lining up for gender-affirming care. But when families decide to take the medical route, they must make decisions about life-altering treatments that have little scientific evidence…
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All but Two Virginia Hospitals Financially Secure after 2020 Encounter with Covid
by James C. Sherlock It was widely reported after March 2020 that hospitals had seen steep declines in revenue due to delayed or canceled elective medical procedures and treatments. That did not translate to the 2020 bottom lines of Virginia hospitals as a group. Net patient revenues dipped, but were made up for by COVID…
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Time for a Public Debate among Medical Experts on Treatment of Gender Incongruent Minors
by James C. Sherlock When there is significant public interest in complex and controversial topics, it is best to let experts debate in public. Such a topic is why Virginia children’s hospitals and clinics treat gender dysphoric children and adolescents with puberty blockers and cross-gender hormones as a standard practice. And whether Virginia should permit…