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Following the catastrophic hurricane, health care administrators and providers strategized to make their public health system more resilient in a disaster, and focused on improving patient delivery to the city's indigent population—a change that studies since have shown is remarkably better for patients. "In the aftermath of Katrina, few could have predicted that the next 10 years would bring a profound transformation to the health system here in New Orleans," says Charlotte Parent, director of the New Orleans Health Department. (Marsa, 8/29)

Thousands of Minnesotans with disabilities have been forced needlessly to wait months and even years for community-based services because the state has underspent more than $1 billion in public funds, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in St. Paul. Attorneys representing a group of people with disabilities allege that for nearly two decades, the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) has mismanaged money set aside under Medicaid, the state and federal health insurance program, for services intended to help people with disabilities live more meaningful and integrated lives in their communities. (Serres, 8/29)

Two South Florida bankers with strong local connections top a list of nominees that will be forwarded to Miami-Dade commissioners in September to fill a single vacancy on the Public Health Trust that governs the county’s $1.8 billion-a-year hospital network, Jackson Health System. The bankers, William “Bill” Heffernan and Adolfo Henriques, received the highest ranking from a nominating committee made up of Jackson trustees, Miami-Dade Commissioner Audrey Edmonson and others who met this week to interview a group of four finalists for the opening. (Chang, 8/29)

It's one of the few public health arenas in which Ohio can justifiably boast of its position on a national stage. In only a year, the state has jumped from among the worst to among the best in the percentage of kids receiving the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine on time. The state also outpaces the national average on most other childhood vaccinations, according to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Immunization Survey, released today. (Zeltner, 8/28)

Heart-attack patients whose ambulances were diverted from crowded emergency rooms to hospitals farther away were more likely to be dead a year later than patients who weren’t diverted, according to a recent study published in the journal Health Affairs. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of California-San Francisco and the National Bureau of Economic Research, looked at ambulance diversions affecting nearly 30,000 Medicare patients in 26 California counties from 2001 to 2011. (Feder Ostrov, 8/31)

At least six San Quentin State Prison inmates were ill with Legionnaires’ disease and dozens more under observation Sunday, prompting a weekend halt to visitors, no hot meals and limited drinking water supplies at California’s oldest prison. At least 51 inmates are under observation for respiratory illness at the prison’s medical unit, said Dana Simas, a spokeswoman with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. (8/30)

California is looking to restore its reputation for agenda-setting tobacco regulation with measures to raise the smoking age to 21, triple per-pack taxes and regulate e-cigarettes the same as conventional products. The American Cancer Society and other supporters contend California, which passed the first smoke-free workplace law in 1994, has slipped behind other states in regulating and taxing tobacco use. (Nash, 8/28)

The metro-east soon will have fewer beds available for people suffering a mental health crisis, even as advocates say they need more inpatient beds for mentally ill patients in Madison and St. Clair counties. In 2013, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and Touchette Regional Hospital joined forces with Southern Illinois Healthcare Foundation to build a new 30-bed behavioral health services center. It is intended to expand Touchette’s ability to help mentally ill patients who arrive in the emergency room with a need for inpatient treatment. Currently, Touchette has 12 beds available for mental health services, so the new facility will more than double Touchette’s capability. (Donald, 8/30)

Fox Valley Older Adult Services is a bustling place, with seniors intently honed in as they design jewelry, create art, play games, take exercise classes and engage in conversation over savory hot lunches. But Executive Director Cindy Worsley hustles to keep these doors open with the Rauner vs. Madigan budget battle dragging on in Springfield. In her almost 30 years with Fox Valley Older Adult Services — whose mission has always been to keep seniors in the Kane, Kendall and DeKalb areas in their homes as long as possible — Worsley insists this Springfield stalemate "is the biggest threat" she's ever encountered. (Crosby, 8/30)

A northwest suburban couple who own a home-healthcare business paid kickbacks to employees and marketers in exchange for referring elderly and disabled patients for unnecessary treatment that was funded by Medicare, according to a 23-count indictment unsealed Thursday. Estrellita and Miguel Duquilla, ages 58 and 60, own HCN Home Healthcare Inc., 6288 N. Cicero Ave., and were charged with conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare kickbacks, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office. (8/28)