Medicaid expansion paves the way for health gains for Louisiana

By JULIE MINDA

Louisiana has seen swift changes in the demographics of health care since it expanded Medicaid last year. The number of uninsured people in the state is down by nearly half. And more than 430,000 people are newly insured under Medicaid, bringing the proportion of Louisiana's population that is insured under the program to about 30 percent.

But "a stroke of a pen could change all of that," if legislative efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act are successful and if such legislation decreases the availability of affordable and accessible insurance, says Scott Wester, president and chief executive of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, La., one of five hospitals in the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System.
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Issue Index

• Medicaid expansion paves the way for health gains for Louisiana
• Mercy doctor with small-town practice is AMA president
• Tennessee couple doubts ACA replacement will serve patients' interests
• Our Lady of Peace clinic administers injection meds for recovering addicts, mentally ill
• Saint Louis University tests vaccines against pandemics, bioterrorism
• CHA salutes exceptional young leaders in the ministry
• Ministry physician is co-creator of app to support families of ICU patients
• Remembering health care leader Sr. Diana Bader, OP
• Keeping Up

Mercy doctor with small-town practice is AMA president

By BETSY TAYLOR

Dr. David Barbe, a family medicine physician who practices in his rural hometown of Mountain Grove, Mo., will be installed for a yearlong term as president of the Chicago-based American Medical Association this month.

Barbe, 63, is a vice president of regional operations for the Springfield, Mo., communities of Mercy health system of Chesterfield, Mo. He oversees five rural Mercy hospitals and 90 clinic practices in southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas.
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Our Lady of Peace clinic administers injection meds for recovering addicts, mentally ill

By BETSY TAYLOR

Our Lady of Peace, a KentuckyOne Health behavioral health hospital and outpatient center in Louisville, opened a clinic in February to administer long-acting medication to help patients recovering from opioid or alcohol addictions reduce their cravings. The clinic also gives injections of long-acting psychiatric medications to patients with certain mental illnesses.
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CHA salutes exceptional young leaders in the ministry

By KATHLEEN NELSON

CHA is giving a nod to the future, honoring as Tomorrow's Leaders 11 accomplished individuals — all age 40 or younger — who are poised to continue to make significant contributions to the ministry for years to come. The class of honorees were to join senior ministry executives for a retreat and be recognized at the 2017 Catholic Health Assembly in New Orleans.
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Saint Louis University tests vaccines against pandemics, bioterrorism

By RENEE STOVSKY

ST. LOUIS — Rosie Williams, 43, works at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital here as a patient coordinator in the division of endocrinology/diabetes.

As the mother of a 12-year-old daughter, Williams says she has been deeply affected by photos she's seen of infants born with microcephaly after their mothers were infected by the Zika virus during pregnancy.
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Tennessee couple doubts ACA replacement will serve patients' interests

By BETSY TAYLOR

Marjorie and Tim Riley of Bartlett, Tenn., describe themselves as private people, but they are telling their own story to illustrate the need for affordable, quality health insurance. It's something that has been a worry of theirs for decades, as they often didn't know from year to year if they could pay for needed health insurance.

Marjorie, better known as Bonnie, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1994 at age 33, when she was a stay-at-home mother. She woke up one morning unable to see out of her right eye. A battery of tests led doctors to the life-changing diagnosis.
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Ministry physician is co-creator of app to support families of ICU patients

By JULIE MINDA

Dr. Mark Kantrow, a physician at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, La., has joined two business partners in launching a palliative care app for mobile devices to support intensive care unit patients and family members.
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