Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter has strong opinions about how the county should spend the windfall it expects from legal settlements with opioid makers, distributors and retailers. “It has to be spent,” he said, “for recovery, rehab, that type of stuff.” Law enforcement, Easter said, should not be getting any of it. As local governments […]
Health Care
Posted inHealth
Wichita nurses win contract after threatening third strike in a year
Union nurses ratified contracts with two Wichita hospitals this week, averting a third strike in less than a year and beating the odds against new unions getting first-time contracts at all. Nearly 1,000 registered nurses at Ascension Via Christi’s St. Francis and St. Joseph hospitals voted to ratify two-year contracts. The union said the deals […]
Posted inHealth
Kansas City-area politicians pick between war on drugs or treatment when spending opioid settlement cash
Editor’s note (April 18, 2024): This story has been updated to correct the amount of money Jackson County allocated to University Health’s Center for Recovery and Wellness. A state report listed a different amount than the the county legislature appropriated. Johnson County spent the biggest piece of its opioid settlement windfall so far cracking down […]
Posted inHealth, State Government
Kansas and Missouri bans may spur families to travel far out of state for gender-affirming care
If Kansas bans gender-affirming care for minors, Kansas City families with transgender children will be hundreds of miles from a doctor who could help them. Kansas lawmakers stand poised to follow a conservative playbook that 24 states, including Missouri, already have used to outlaw treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The Kansas Legislature passed […]
Posted inHealth, Kansas State Government
Kansas and Missouri bans may spur families to travel far out of state for gender-affirming care
If Kansas bans gender-affirming care for minors, Kansas City families with transgender children will be hundreds of miles from a doctor who could help them. Kansas lawmakers stand poised to follow a conservative playbook that 24 states, including Missouri, already have used to outlaw treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The Kansas Legislature passed […]
Posted inHealth
Supreme Court abortion pill case could make abortion access even more difficult for Missourians
A case before the U.S. Supreme Court could drastically restrict access to medication abortions, now the most common form of abortion in the United States. That could further limit abortion options for Missouians, who must cross the state line to get a legal abortion. It could also increase the number of patients coming to Kansas, […]
Posted inHealth
A U.S. Supreme Court case challenging the abortion pill could drive more patients to Wichita
A case before the U.S. Supreme Court could drastically limit access to medication abortions, now the most common form of abortion in the United States. That could increase the already fast-growing flow of patients to Wichita trying to escape abortion bans that have swept through the region since the high court overturned Roe v. Wade […]
Posted inHealth
Texans, Oklahomans and other out-of-staters traveling at higher numbers for abortions in Kansas
As abortion bans have multiplied across the country since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, so have abortions. And cities like Wichita, in states where the procedure remains legal, see a steady rise in patients coming for the procedure. Last year, Trust Women, Wichita’s largest abortion provider, saw just over 5,000 […]
Posted inHealth
More than doctor visits, a $30 million Kansas City, Kansas, clinic plan comes with a hopefully better neighborhood
Takeaways: For a year, Vibrant Health has drafted plans for a $30 million building in Kansas City, Kansas, to bring in health care and kickstart a poor neighborhood. The project reflects an evolving health care ecosystem where clinics cash in on the idea that some people get healthier or live longer not because of the […]
Posted inHealth
Artificial intelligence is already at work in Wichita hospitals, but without much regulation
Takeaways: Patients at Wichita’s Wesley Medical Center are cared for by nurses at their bedside — with help from a virtual care center in Denver. Hundreds of miles away, computers monitor vital signs and lab results and send out alarms when a patient is in trouble. Like a growing number of hospitals, Wesley leans on […]