News & Updates
January 28, 2015
POLITICS
Maine Governor Considering 2018 Senate Run Maine Governor Paul LePage (R) said Monday on a talk radio show that he is considering challenging Senator Angus King (I-ME) in 2018 when King is up for reelection. King, who served as governor of Maine from 1995-2003, is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats. LePage was recently re-elected to a second term as governor following a contentious three-person election.
Maine governor seeks $2M for legal fees in budget AUGUSTA, MAINE >> Republican Gov. Paul LePage wants to set aside $2 million in Maine's budget to cover legal fees in cases not supported by the state's top attorney, a Democrat who has disagreed with the governor on a number of issues during his first term.
AP Exclusive: Maine governor spent $53g in Medicaid fight AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage's administration spent nearly $53,000 on private lawyers in its failed attempt to remove thousands of low-income young adults from the state's Medicaid program after being told by Maine's attorney general that he couldn't win the case, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Women's activist groups outline agenda for Legislature AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- A coalition of women's groups said Tuesday the Legislature and the governor need to focus on policies that will help more women have jobs and quality child care, while protecting their rights to abortion and contraception.
Prominent Portland lawmaker dies after battle with cancer Joseph C. Brannigan, 83, served in the Maine Legislature for 28 years and was executive director of Shalom House for 34 years.
SURGEONS
Doctor, author, chefs see less meat on Maine’s table More omnivores show an interest in healthier eating, adding to an apparent swing toward plant-based diets.
Efforts to Curtail Tobacco Use Stalled in 2014, Report Says WEDNESDAY, Jan. 21, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Little to no progress is being made in curtailing tobacco use in the United States, a new report from the American Lung Association contends.
Maine Medical Center: When Your Baby Is Born With a Health Problem If you're expecting a baby, you're probably learning all you can about how to make your pregnancy, labor, and delivery go smoothly and leave you and your baby in good health. But it's also important to understand that certain health problems and complications can't be prevented, no matter how smoothly the pregnancy goes.
EDUCATION
MMC: Educating Tomorrow's Caregivers (video)
MMC Performs First-of-Its-Kind Triple Kidney Transplant Chain in Maine PORTLAND, MAINE — Maine Medical Center (MMC) announced that it has performed the first-of-its-kind surgery in Maine – a triple kidney transplant chain involving three donors and three recipients, all Maine residents. All of the surgeries were done during a 15-hour, six-surgery marathon November 4, 2014 at MMC
HOSPITALS
Widespread influenza prompts restrictions at central Maine hospitals The temporary visitor restrictions at Inland and Franklin Memorial hospitals are focused around maternity wards because of the vulnerability of the babies.
Endowment to fund teacher program at Maine hospital PORTLAND, Maine —The Maine Medical Center is getting an endowment to permanently fund its hospital-based teacher program.
Maine Senator Introduces Bill To Allow Medical Marijuana At Hospitals Hospitals should be places where patients go to get better. Hospitals should be places where you are allowed to take medicine that helps your health. However, if a patient tries to consume medical marijuana at a hospital, they are likely to get kicked out, which is sad. One Senator in Maine wants to change that. Senator Eric Brakey has introduced a bill that would allow consumption of medical marijuana at Maine hospitals.
Maine Medical Center: Birthing Centers and Hospital Maternity Services You'll make plenty of decisions during pregnancy, and choosing where to give birth — whether in a hospital or in a birth center setting — is one of the most important.
Despite progress, Maine hospitals fall short of goals to reduce common infections Maine hospitals are falling short of national goals to reduce several types of potentially life-threatening infections, according to new data released Wednesday.
Mayo Regional Hospital to Expand Cancer Services A generous gift from a local family will let Mayo Regional Hospital expand services to cancer patients. The hospital received $250,000 in memory of Tracy Hibbard-Kasprzak who died of colon cancer last May.
Farmington hospital is learning lab for lawmakers A group of state legislators, many of them newly elected, visited Franklin Memorial Hospital to learn about the impact of health care policy.
RURAL
Care Fragmentation: Affecting the Elderly Disproportionately Fragmentation—a lack of care continuity when disparate healthcare professionals provide care without integrated access to clinical information—is a public health focus. It’s a concern for surgeons when patients undergo complex procedures that require lengthy periods of recovery. Fragmentation is especially troubling when patients are elderly.
$848,000 federal grant to connect rural health care providers in Maine CARIBOU, Maine — Cary Medical Center will use more than $800,000 in federal grant money to connect 10 Maine hospitals in five counties in a health collaborative aimed at improving rural health services.
Rural Maine County Pioneers Population Health Health improvements in sparsely populated Franklin county are no fluke. Forty years of data illustrates that population health works, and that just about everybody can do it with resources they already have.
Governor’s proposed DHHS budget sets right priorities The spending blueprint identifies more than $100 million in spending reductions to pay for a roughly equal amount in initiatives to help the neediest Mainers.
Ten rural hospitals, including NMMC and Cary, receive $848,478 grant FORT KENT, Maine – Northern Maine Medical Center will expand its telemedicine technology and share information on best practices regarding "key clinical indicators" with nine other rural hospitals as part of a three-year, $848,478 federal grant, according to NMMC CEO Peter Sirois.
TELEMEDICINE
New York enacts telehealth parity law New York has become the 22nd state to pass legislation requiring that telehealth visits be reimbursed at the same rate as in-person visits.