Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Judge Reduces Sentence Of Paramedic Present At Elijah McClain's Death
A Colorado judge on Friday reduced to probation the prison sentence of a paramedic convicted in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a young Black man who died after police put him in a chokehold, a court official said. Judge Mark Warner, who oversaw three trials concerning the death of McClain, who died after paramedics injected him with a powerful sedative, reduced the sentence of emergency medical worker Peter Cichuniec during a hearing to four years probation, said Suzanne Karrer, a spokesperson for the Colorado judicial branch. (Brooks, 9/16)
More health industry developments —
Samaritan Health Services cut about 1% of its workforce last week as part of a broader cost-reducing strategy. Corvallis, Oregon-based Samaritan laid off 80 employees in response to inflation, cyber incidents, inclement weather, volume reduction and declining reimbursement rates, a spokesperson said Monday. Most of the layoffs were not patient-facing positions, the spokesperson said. (Kacik, 9/16)
A federal judge in Chicago has ruled that a nonprofit medical center is unlikely to prevail in its challenge to the structure of the National Labor Relations Board, and declined to block the agency's case against the center from moving forward. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings in a written decision on Friday said he disagreed with Alivio Medical Center's claims that NLRB administrative judges and the board's five members are improperly shielded from being removed at will by the U.S. president. (Wiessner, 9/16)
Dr. Giuseppe Colasurdo is stepping down as president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston but will remain in the role until his successor is appointed, the university announced Monday. Colasurdo has been in the role for 12 years, the longest tenure of any UTHealth Houston president. He did not offer a reason for his departure in a message he shared with the UTHealth Houston community. (MacDonald, 9/16)
St. Louis Children’s Hospital will provide 1,000 free lockboxes over the next year to patients at risk of suicide or poisonings, both of which are increasingly taking the lives of Missouri children. The lockboxes are big enough to store several medicine containers or a handgun. Only those with a key to its padlock can open it. (Munz, 9/16)
