Health and Welfare

As people take summer vacations, bedbugs also hit the road.  The bedbug infestation is not waning.  A national survey shows almost all pest management professionals encountered bedbugs over the last year.  And with more people travelling and changing residences,  University of Kentucky Entomologist Mike Potter says many pest control experts see a lot of activity during the summer.

Some portions of Kentucky could see stormy weather today, but it appears the threat of an unusual wind event has passed by the Commonwealth.  It’s called a ‘derecho’ and wind speeds can reach upwards or one hundred miles per hour.  Jackson National Weather Service Meteorologist Tony Edwards says such a blast of wind isn’t expected today.

A call is going out for individuals to assist those uninsured Kentuckians looking at the federal health care law for coverage.  The state is seeking both for profit and nonprofit entities to serve as ‘kynectors’ for the health benefit exchange.  Carrie Banahan, Director of the state Health Benefit Exchange believes these individuals providing assistance will stay busy.

As they begin their day, outdoor workers in Kentucky and six others southeast states will stand down at construction and other work sites.  The time will be spent stressing the dangers posed by summer heat.  Bill Cochran with the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration says the voluntary break is not restricted to construction workers.

Top prosecutors in 23 states, including Kentucky’s attorney general, are condemning a national retailer.  Despite the criticism, Urban Outfitters continues to sell flasks and shot glasses that look like prescription pill bottles.  

A hospital’s operating room can be a noisy, distracting workplace.  There’s the hum of equipment, tones, beeps and conversations, that can all interfere with good communication. A University of Kentucky study looked into the kinds of sounds most often heard in the O-R.

Kentucky ranks 45th out of 50 states when it comes to the health of senior citizens, according to a report issued by the non-profit United Health Foundation. Among all 50 states, Minnesota leads the nation for senior health, followed by Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Iowa. Mississippi ranks 50th, preceded by Oklahoma, Louisiana, West Virginia, Arkansas and Kentucky. Read more...

A diabetes education program offered at the Madison County Health Department is moving to Baptist Health Richmond Hospital.   For seven years, the Health Department has been home to the Diabetes Center of Excellence Program.  It’s a casualty of state budget cuts.  But, Madison Health Department Spokeswoman Christie Green says the Richmond hospital is picking up the service.

Despite an ongoing lawsuit challenging its existence, the Kentucky Health Insurance exchange will start a new advertising campaign next month. The exchange will work like an online marketplace.  Several different insurers will offer various plans.  It will include Medicaid and Medicare.

As summer approaches, more and more Kentuckians are likely to be out biking and walking.  The latest law enforcement techniques for investigating pedestrian and cyclist incidents are being stressed to officers.  A group of state and local police spent this week learning how best to conduct investigations involving vehicles and bicyclists or walkers.  K-S-P Sargent Chad Mills is with collision analysis in the highway safety branch.  Mills says motorcycle related crashes have been on the increase in recent years.  He says motorists need to have even a keener sense when it comes to bike traffic.

Kentucky’s economy remains steeped in agriculture related professions.  Sometimes the rural way of life intersects with an urban traveler.  Farmers across Kentucky are trying their best to get equipment into the fields.  Sometimes, it requires a trip down a roadway.  Triple A reports in 2012 there were 192 collisions in Kentucky involving farm equipment.  Bluegrass Triple A Spokesman Christopher Oakford says slow moving tractors have a legal right to use the roads.

Two Central Kentucky Red Cross volunteers are heading out today to Oklahoma to assist in tornado relief work.   Recovery efforts are continuing today in the town of Moore where many of the casualties are children.  Red Cross Spokesman Winn Stephens says the two volunteers are taking a Red Cross emergency response vehicle to the tornado site.  Russ Hoff of Lexington and Ramona Hibbard of Manchester are traveling to Oklahoma with the Red Cross vehicle.  Stephens says the two are expected to be there for ten days to two weeks.

State police again promise have patrols on Kentucky’s highways this holiday weekend, and, as always, they’ll be watchful for drunk drivers.  And, there’s a move afoot that tightens restrictions on drivers who also drink.

The numbers tell part of the story.  71-hundred children need foster homes but there are only four-thousand such residences in Kentucky.  And, State Department for Community Based Services Commissioner Teresa James says some of those foster parents hope to adopt a child...and then leave the system.  “We have some of our homes are actually considered foster to adopt.  These are individuals who want to be foster parents, but are saying to us when they come in ‘we might also be interested in adoption, if children have had their, if their parental rights have been terminated and children are free for adoption,” said James.

Tea party activist David Adams is again suing Gov. Steve Beshear. This time it's over the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare. The lawsuit aims at stopping Beshear from expanding Medicaid in Kentucky.

Most agree a $11.7 million public health clinic that could help thousands of poor people get medical and dental treatment would be positive for Lexington. But opinions vary dramatically about benefits of the land deal between developer Ted J. Mims and HealthFirst Bluegrass to locate the clinic at 496 Southland Drive. The project is the focus of an audit announced Tuesday by Lexington Mayor Jim Gray and state Auditor Adam Edelen. They cited concern over $250,000 in fees and rent that have been paid by HealthFirst for the clinic with few tangible results. Read more...

The dismantling of the old Clark Regional Medical Center has begun, and should take about six months, according to Jen Algire, CEO of the Clark Regional Foundation for the Promotion of Health. “The building’s basically going to be dismantled piece by piece,” Algire said.  Read more...