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The Florida Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill that would create a new category of “rural emergency hospitals” in the state, with supporters saying it would help ensure access to health care in rural areas. (2/29)

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) has launched a dedicated Small Baby Unit to provide the highest level of specialized care to critically ill premature babies. The program is located within the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation Newborn and Infant Critical Care Unit (NICCU) and is supported by a specialized team of clinicians trained in the care of children born before 32 weeks. (2/29)

An outbreak of infectious bacteria is being monitored by the Santa Cruz County Public Health Division, county officials said Thursday. At least 27 cases of shigellosis have been recorded in the county since late January, mostly among people who have experienced homelessness. Of those, 16 have been lab-confirmed and 11 remain under investigation, according to the public health division. (2/29)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: California Hospitals, Advocates Seek Stable Funding To Retain Behavioral Health Navigators

Health providers and addiction experts warn the funding structure is unstable for a California initiative that steers patients with substance use disorder into long-term treatment after they are discharged from emergency rooms, which has already led some critical employees to leave their jobs. Supporters of CA Bridge’s behavioral health navigator program, which launched in 2022, say its reliance on one-time funding makes it hard for hospitals to retain navigators amid a growing drug crisis. (Sánchez, 3/1)

An LGBTQ advocacy group is suing the Texas attorney general after his agency requested information that the group said would reveal the identities of its members, including those who sought to stay anonymous in recent suits. The suit, filed Wednesday by PFLAG, argued that the requests violate its members’ right to free speech, to petition and to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. (Goldenstein, 2/29)

When Michigan voters approved recreational marijuana six years ago, the measure included an innovative mandate: using cannabis tax revenue to pay for research into the health benefits of the drug for military veterans. State officials later committed $40 million. Not a single veteran has received marijuana in a trial. Critics blame federal restrictions on marijuana research. (Ovalle and Nirappil, 2/29)

Endo International, a pharmaceutical company whose U.S. headquarters is in Malvern, has agreed to pay the government up to $465 million to settle civil and criminal investigations into the sales and marketing of an opioid drug, federal authorities said Thursday. As part of the deal — which must be approved by a bankruptcy judge — an Endo affiliate would plead guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. (Seidman, 2/29)

The first time Hailey Hall went to college, it was 2008. She lived in Georgia and had been diagnosed with autism four years before. ... Since Hall was diagnosed two decades ago, the number of children with autism has shot up from 1 in 125 to 1 in 36. Now, college administrators across the country are responding, training staff, adapting to learning differences and promoting self-advocacy. A few local universities are even touting some success: Small steps, they say, appear to be working. (Schrappen, 2/28)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: How A Friend’s Death Turned Colorado Teens Into Anti-Overdose Activists

Gavinn McKinney loved Nike shoes, fireworks, and sushi. He was studying Potawatomi, one of the languages of his Native American heritage. He loved holding his niece and smelling her baby smell. On his 15th birthday, the Durango, Colorado, teen spent a cold December afternoon chopping wood to help neighbors who couldn’t afford to heat their homes. McKinney almost made it to his 16th birthday. He died of fentanyl poisoning at a friend’s house in December 2021. (Bichell, 3/1)