Gov. Nathan Deal, in his annual State of the State address Wednesday, outlined several health care initiatives to boost mental health services, DFCS, Medicaid and autism coverage. Deal said his fiscal 2018 budget proposal includes, on average, a 19 percent pay raise for DFCS caseworkers to help ensure “a competitive salary,’’ so the state can…
More than 1,300 people have been registered as medical cannabis patients in Georgia, state officials said Tuesday. That patient number has grown since the first Georgia medical marijuana registration card was issued in July 2015. Sheila Pierce of the Department of Public Health told the agency board Tuesday that 311 physicians have registered to certify…
Two recent polls on the Affordable Care Act and its provisions show there’s considerable support for at least parts of the 2010 health care law. A Kaiser Family Foundation survey, released Friday, found that just one in five Americans support repealing the ACA without having a replacement plan approved. Republicans in Congress, who have long…
The upcoming presidential change in Washington – not surprisingly – has brought an atmosphere of uncertainty to the Atlanta-based CDC. One big sign of an agency in transition is the upcoming departure of Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC. He will hand in his resignation on Jan. 20, the day Donald Trump is sworn in as…
Meningitis is a disease that can be fatal, and infections often occur in young adults. Yet many college students aren’t vaccinated for meningitis B, which accounts for about 40 percent of cases, says Dr. Mitzi Rubin of Marietta. In a new GHN Commentary, Rubin says that “parents may think their children are protected when they…
As both a family physician and a mom, I know that the to-do list for parents is often a long one. And if you’re the parent of a high school or college student, you might not think about making sure your student is up to date on vaccines. But young adult vaccinations are critical, especially…
A South Georgia elementary school has three dental chairs set up for kids who don’t have a regular dentist. But those chairs at Turner County Elementary School in Ashburn have sat vacant for the past three years, even though many kids there need dental care, says Brenda Lee of Family Connection of Turner County. That’s…
As the number of foster children in Georgia soars, a state agency continues to struggle with a high turnover rate among the caseworkers who help these kids. Georgia DFCS assigns each foster child a caseworker, and the agency says the annual turnover rate for these workers is about 37 percent. DFCS is recruiting now to…
Fulton County’s rate of opioid overdose deaths was more than double the national average in 2014, newly released figures show. And the county — which contains most of the city of Atlanta as well as some of Georgia’s most affluent suburbs — had a higher rate of HIV diagnoses than all but one of 28…
Georgia programs that provide child welfare services for kids who are under state supervision say they’ve been underpaid for years. A memo from a state official agrees with them. Cliff O’Connor, chief financial officer for Georgia DFCS, reported in the June memo, obtained by GHN, that those organizations providing child placement services and group settings…