Florida pediatrics: Healing by play

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Florida pediatrics: Healing by play

Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital is committed to the "healing power of play." The hospital's new expanded facility has additional indoor and outdoor space to allow kids to get extra exercise and have fun in a cheery environment. Read more about Healing by play here and check out the latest advancements and enhancements in pediatric care around Florida:

See also:
» Making Space: Wolfson Children's Hospital is adding beds to address gaps in mental health care.
» Primary Concern: A Nemours pilot program is embedding mental health services in its primary care offices.
» The Other End of the Needle: Getting one’s blood drawn can be a stressful experience for children. 
» Nurse Pipeline: Nursing shortages are taking a toll on all specialties, including pediatrics.
» Wake-up Call: Florida is mandating later start times for middle schoolers and high schoolers — a shift doctors say will help kids get the sleep they need to learn and thrive.
» Slowing Nearsightedness: The Eye Care Institute at Nova Southeastern is tackling a growing epidemic of myopia in children.

Florida veered from norms to strip transgender care from Medicaid, records show

Days before a state agency began researching whether transgender medical care for Floridians should be covered by Medicaid, officials started lining up experts known for going against the scientific mainstream. The resulting report and state rule revoked Medicaid coverage of treatments for gender dysphoria, like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. It was thrown out by a federal judge, who in his June order called the rule an “exercise in politics, not good medicine.” [Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

The biggest health care data breaches you should know about in Florida

Health care institutions are among the most targeted businesses in the world, chiefly because they hold such sensitive information about the patients they serve. Hospitals, home health agencies, and other institutions store patients’ phone numbers, Social Security numbers, addresses, and other things that would allow any would-be criminal to pose as a patient and open new credit cards or bank accounts in their name. More from WFLA and Bay News 9.

Voters could decide the future of abortion access in Florida

Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, advocates have turned their eyes toward Florida as a potential foothold for abortion rights in the Southeast. The state bans most abortions after 15 weeks, but this fall a Florida Supreme Court decision is expected to trigger a six-week ban passed by the Republican-led Legislature this spring. Now an effort is underway to protect the right to an abortion in Florida's constitution up to the point of fetal viability. [Source: WUSF]

How storms drive mold-related health issues as Hurricane Ian’s anniversary approaches

There was an increase in hospital visits from neighborhoods affected by Ian, including patients sickened with symptoms associated with indoor mold, according to Dr. Iahn Gonsenhauser, chief medical officer at Lee Health, which operates hospitals and other medical services in Southwest Florida. He said patients living with mold were often healed and discharged only to be readmitted after returning to their homes, where they were exposed anew. [Source: Helath News Florida]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Pharmacists at Tampa veterans hospital complain of understaffing and burnout [Tampa Bay Times]
Citing understaffing and unacceptable working conditions, pharmacists working at a Tampa veterans hospital have passed a vote of no confidence in the hospital’s pharmacy and executive leadership. Members of the American Federation of Government Employees working as pharmacists at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital described the vote as a last resort to protest a “drastic” increase in their workload due to the departure of several full-time employees.

› A Florida doctor thought he removed a kidney. He was wrong. That wasn’t the only problem [Miami Herald]
Removing a cyst instead of a kidney during a 2021 surgery will cost an Orlando doctor $7,236 and require more education after the state Board of Medicine approved a settlement agreement. But the punitive action didn’t address something else in the Florida Department of Health administrative complaint: Why the patient wasn’t told about the mistake for two months.

› How did Jacksonville-area hospitals fare in U.S. News and World Report rankings? [Florida Times-Union]
U.S. News & World Report recently released its "Best Hospitals" 2023-24 report, which for 34 years has evaluated hospitals in about 30 medical and surgical services. About 5,000 hospitals are evaluated annually: Criteria include "risk-adjusted mortality rates, patient experience, level of nursing care and how successfully each hospital helps patients get back home," according to the magazine.

› Two Ocala hospitals nationally recognized for high-quality cardiovascular care [Ocala News]
HCA Florida Ocala Hospital and HCA Florida West Marion Hospital have received four awards from the American Heart Association for demonstrating a commitment to following up-to-date, research-based guidelines for the treatment of heart disease and stroke. Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a stroke or heart attack, and heart disease and stroke are the leading and fifth-leading causes of death in the nation, respectively. Studies have shown that patients can recover better when providers consistently follow treatment guidelines, according to HCA Florida Healthcare.

Tags: Health Care eNews

Previous Health Care Updates:

• Florida health care providers adjust to largest U.S. drug shortage list in recorded history
• A Florida health provider says better building design can help patients heal
• Florida hospitals: Building boom
• Abortion proposal on Florida's November ballot might not end legal fights about the issue
• More leprosy cases are popping up in Florida. Why an ancient disease might be endemic
• Thousands of Florida kids lost Medicaid, now some have no coverage
• Stuck in licensing limbo, Florida nursing students want answers. They're not getting them
• How a nationwide cyberattack is impacting Florida patients and hospitals
• The computer will see you now: Artificial Intelligence usage grows at Florida hospitals