Chicago’s public health commissioner, Dr. Allison Arwady

CITY'S TOP DOC FEELS 'OTHERWISE WELL' WITH MILD COVID SYMPTOMS: Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago’s top health official, said Thursday that she has tested positive for COVID-19, the first time she’s had the virus since it emerged in early 2020.

Arwady is experiencing cold-like symptoms and fever but is “otherwise well,” which she credits to being fully vaccinated and boosted, she said in a statement issued by the Chicago Department of Public Health, or CDPH. Arwady is working from home as she recovers and follows isolation guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

In the statement, Arwady reminded Chicagoans to stay up to date on all COVID-19 vaccines. READ MORE.

GEN Z, MILLENNIALS MORE LIKELY TO GET HYPERTENSION IN PREGNANCY: Pregnant Gen Z and millennial women are about twice as likely to be newly diagnosed with high blood pressure during pregnancy compared with pregnant people form the baby boomer generation, even when adjusting for age differences at pregnancy, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study.

While it is commonly thought that rising rates of high blood pressure during pregnancy, including the conditions of preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, are due to becoming pregnant at older ages, the study finds rates of high blood pressure during pregnancy are higher among individuals from more recent generations regardless of their age during pregnancy.

A study author thinks it’s a sign of an overall decline in heart health in the two younger generations.

“While there are many reasons for the generational changes observed, we hypothesize that this is, in large part, due to the observed generational decline in heart health,” corresponding study author Dr. Sadiya Khan, an assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine physician said in a statement. “We are seeing more people in more recent generations entering pregnancy with risk factors such as obesity.” 

“High blood pressure during pregnancy is a leading cause of death for both mom and baby,” Khan said. “High blood pressure during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of heart failure and stroke in the mother and increased risk of the baby being born prematurely, being growth restricted or dying.”

ABBVIE COMMITS $8M TO HELP REDUCE DISPARITIES: The University of Chicago Medicine has received $8 million from AbbVie, as part of the biopharmaceutical company’s overall $50 million, five-year investment to support underserved Black communities across the United States, the South Side health system said in a statement.

The AbbVie contribution will support UChicago Medicine’s Urban Health Initiative, expanding its local team of community health workers and enabling more holistic, comprehensive health care for residents, UChicago Medicine said in the statement. 

“Chicago’s South Side is home to vibrant, diverse and resilient communities, but generations of structural inequity have resulted in significant health disparities,” Karen Hale, vice president and deputy general counsel at AbbVie said in the statement. “University of Chicago Medicine’s Urban Health Initiative will significantly scale up a local team of community health workers to help thousands of Chicagoans navigate systems of care and empower these communities.”

AbbVie’s gift will establish the Liaisons in Care program, community health workers dedicated to promoting health equity through increased access to care and resources, the statement said.

“AbbVie’s donation will allow for the hiring of 14 additional community health workers, increasing our capacity to holistically serve and meet the needs of greater numbers of South Side residents,” Brenda Battle, UChicago Medicine’s chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer and vice president of the Urban Health Initiative said in the statement.   BAXTER CONTRIBUTES TO KIDNEY HEALTH EDUCATION IN BLACK COMMUNITIES: Baxter International is expanding its partnership with the international not-for-profit organization The Links, which is bringing awareness and resources for the disproportionate challenges affecting Black Americans related to kidney health, the company said in a statement.

Baxter is adding $800,000 in funding to the Links partnership, bringing its cumulative contribution up to $1.4 million in two years, the statement said.

An international not-for-profit comprised of more than 17,000 Black women and women of African descent, The Links joined forces with Baxter in 2021 to create intervention-based programs focused on the prevention, detection, and management of chronic kidney disease, the statement said. The Links program has reached more than 51,000 people with kidney health awareness and education resources.

“Our momentum with The Links has been powerful. By focusing on one health condition and partnering with trusted community members to help educate and inform, we’ve been able to provide important awareness and resources for kidney health,” Guillermo Amezcua, general manager of Baxter’s U.S. renal business. “We are taking our learnings from the first year combined with strategic funding to broaden the impact of this partnership in existing locations while also expanding our reach to new communities.”

INSIDE THE INSPECTION AT ABBOTT'S STURGIS PLANT: Bloomberg examines what went wrong at Abbott's Sturgis, Mich. plant, where about 20% of the infant formula produced in the U.S. comes from, and how, during a September 2021 inspection, U.S. Food & Drug Administration found evidence of Cronobacter sakazakii, bacteria that can survive for months, sometimes years, in powdered formula and cause devastating illness in infants.

Abbott’s routine testing had turned up cronobacter at the plant five times in the previous two years. That's not unusual for a formula maker and the company wasn't required to notify the FDA, Bloomberg reports, but inspectors found more to concern them than simply the presence of the bacteria. 

FOLLOWING ACQUISITION OF ONE MEDICAL, AMAZON TO SHUTTER AMAZON CARE: Amazon is closing its primary care and telehealth service, a sudden move that follows the company’s deal to buy the One Medical chain of clinics. 

Amazon Care, which was launched in 2019, will close by the end of the year, Senior Vice President Neil Lindsay said in an email to the company’s health care team. 

"This decision wasn’t made lightly and only became clear after many months of careful consideration,” Lindsay said in the email, which was reviewed by Bloomberg. “Although our enrolled members have loved many aspects of Amazon Care, it is not a complete enough offering for the large enterprise customers we have been targeting and wasn’t going to work long-term.”

Lindsay said many displaced workers will have opportunities to join other teams within Amazon.

Amazon Care overlaps with services provided by One Medical, which Amazon said in July it would acquire in an all-cash deal valued at $3.49 billion. One Medical, whose parent is called 1Life Healthcare, operates 182 medical offices in 25 markets in the U.S. Customers pay a subscription fee for access to its physicians and round-the-clock digital health services. Amazon in February announced plans to expand Amazon Care to 20 additional cities, including New York, Chicago, Miami and San Francisco. READ MORE.

SURGALIGN GETS FDA CLEARANCE TO SPINAL FIXATION SYSTEM: Deerfield-based medical technology company Surgalign Holdings said in a statement this week that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has given 510(k) clearance to its Cortera Spinal Fixation System. 

Cortera is spinal implant screw deployed with Surgalign's Holo Portal surgical guidance technology. The new product is a key piece of the portfolio Surgalign hopes will drive the company’s growth over the next 10 years, the statement said.

“The Cortera system is a testament to the spine engineering talent and expertise we’ve assembled in very short order, as we moved from zero engineers in the United States following the RTI divestiture two years ago, to approximately 30 today,” stated Terry Rich, president and CEO of Surgalign. “Thanks to our team and incredible surgeon partners, we progressed from company inception to FDA 510(k) clearance with a very polished system in approximately 16 months. We are excited with the prospects the Cortera system brings to Surgalign, and those around the world who rely on our technology to drive better patient outcomes.”

HEALTH CARE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT LAGS IN COUNTERING EFFECTS OF GREAT RESIGNATION, SURVEY SAYS: Vaya Group, a leadership development consultancy, said its second annual survey of professionals revealed disparities in leadership opportunities between men and women and minority groups that are leaving organizations without diverse leadership pipelines. Health care was among the least prepared in diversity, equity and inclusion, Vaya said in a statement.

The 2022 Vaya Vision survey explored how companies are approaching Leadership Development programs, as well as how businesses are faring with their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.

As the long-term effects of the Great Resignation unfold, organizations are challenged with developing a diverse group of leaders, the 2022 Vaya Vision survey said.

Overall, women are 49% less likely to participate in leadership development programs than men and are 26% less likely to receive mentorship and coaching opportunities after training, the statement said.

The statement said health care lags far behind others in areas of leadership development, employee engagement and diversity, equity and inclusion. 

While, growing industries like IT has the highest leadership development training participation rate at 61%, health care has the lowest with only 40% participating in LD programs. And health care workers feel significantly less engaged and connected to their work compared to other industries. Only 31% health care workers feel engaged, compared to 38% in finance, 39% in IT and 42% in professional services, the statement said.   BAD DEBT INCREASES STEMMING FROM INSURED PATIENTS: The amount of bad debt stemming from patients with insurance increased more than five-fold in a three-year period, hitting providers' financial statements in an already challenging environment, Crain's sister publication Modern Healthcare said.

Almost 58% of bad patient debt in 2021 came from self-pay accounts after insurance, compared with about 11% in 2018, according to a recent study from professional services firm Crowe. Self-pay accounts after insurance include the deductible and amount due after the insurance payment.

Most bad debt, or write-offs associated with patient balances deemed uncollectible after significant collection efforts, once was tied to uninsured patients. Discounts implemented for the uninsured have helped curb those balances in the last several years, said Brian Sanderson, a principal in Crowe’s healthcare consulting group. 

Health systems are navigating rising costs in the face of fewer payments from patients who are increasingly turning to high-deductible plans they can't afford.

Health Pulse recently reported that the Crowe's report "Hospital Collection Rates for Self-Pay Patient Accounts" found that total patient statements with balances of more than $7,500 have more than tripled in the past three years. The Chicago-based company found that collection rates drop significantly when the patient portion reaches a balance of $7,500.

FORMER AHA, CHA LEADER SISTER MARY ROCH ROCKLAGE DIES: Sister Mary Roch Rocklage, a Sister of Mercy and an iconic health care leader, died Tuesday at the age of 87, the St. Louis-based Sisters of Mercy health system, Mercy, said in a statement.

Rocklage began her career in 1954, when she studied nursing under the Sisters of Mercy at St. Xavier University in Chicago. She later served as board chair of the American Hospital Association and a term as the board chair of the Catholic Health Association.

• Dr. Payam Ataii has joined Aspen Dental as senior vice president of orthodontic support.

Ataii will be responsible for educating and supporting doctors and staff about the benefits of clear aligners to patients and develop improved strategies, processes and procedures to deliver clear aligners.

Ataii has more than 20 years of experience in the clear aligner space and is regarded as an innovator and thought leader amongst his peers, Aspen Dental said in a statement. 

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