Obesity is weighing down Florida’s economy. How to shrink the numbers
A new report by Global Data shows that obesity cost Florida $30.1 billion in 2022 â"? impacting $2.15 billion of the state budget or 4% of fiscal year revenue. Randall Croom, associate professor of management at Stetson University, said that’s a significant amount of money that every Floridian should pay attention to. [Source: Health News Florida]
Florida hospitals are investing in robotics, but it's the surgeons still doing the work
Decades ago, the thought of robotic surgeries may have conjured images of operations happening at the hands of a machine. Today, surgeons are increasingly using mechanical arms with tools attached to do all kinds of procedures. It's helping patients with less-invasive operations and providing surgeons with a pinpoint-accurate tool to do their work.More from Health News Florida and WLRN.
Florida Trend Exclusive
Ask a midwife
There were 29,917 midwife-attended births in Florida in 2022 — slightly more than 13% of all births that year, reports the American College of Nurse-Midwives. The organization counted 869 board-certified midwives in the state that year. Florida has no midwifery education programs. Kristin Rardin is a board-certified nurse midwife with Baptist Medical Group – Ladies First OBGYN in Pensacola. She answered our questions about what midwives actually do. [Source: Fllorida Trend]
Rising costs of care could strain funding for Florida program for brain-damaged kids
Facing withering criticism from parents, advocates, lawmakers and insurance regulators, Florida’s compensation program for children born with catastrophic brain injuries opened its bank account three years ago and improved the lives of some of the state’s most disabled children. But the enhanced care came at a significantly higher price. [Source: Miami Herald]
‘Sloth fever’ in Florida? Oropouche cases are linked to Cuba. Here’s what to know.
More than a dozen Floridians who traveled to Cuba this year were infected with Oropouche, a virus known as “sloth fever” and spread mainly by tiny biting flies and some mosquitoes, state data shows. Florida has recorded 30 Oropouche infections this year, and Miami-Dade County has the most confirmed cases. State health officials say all of the infections are considered to be associated with travel to Cuba, which is experiencing an Oropouche outbreak. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› Nurses warn ‘hiring freeze’ at Tampa VA hospital putting vets at risk
Veterans in the intensive care unit at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital need such a high level of care that registered nurses like Justin Wooden are typically assigned only two patients at a time. But Wooden’s shifts have been tougher since February when the hospital removed nurses aides from his ward, placing more burden on already overworked and stressed registered nurses, he said.
› A deal is in the works to hand 5 Miami-area hospitals to a new owner. What’s next?
Palmetto General, North Shore Medical Center and three other South Florida hospitals owned by a healthcare giant in bankruptcy could have new owners soon. A deal is in the works between Steward Health Care System and its landlord to let the hospitals stay open under interim operators.
› A judge backs a Pensacola abortion clinic's license after rejection by AHCA
An administrative law judge Wednesday ruled that Florida should approve a license for a Pensacola abortion clinic after regulators last year rejected the application because of what they alleged were problems at a now-closed clinic in Louisiana. Judge Yolonda Green issued a 40-page recommended order siding with July Medical Services, which challenged a decision by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration to deny the license.
› Orange County confirms its first local cases of dengue in nearly 100 years
For the first time in nearly 100 years, two cases of the mosquito-borne disease dengue fever were acquired in Orange County. “In modern times, we've not had any local transmission,” said Steve Harrison, manager of Orange County Mosquito Control. He said the last cases probably were recorded in the mid-1930s. But that changed last week when two locally acquired cases of dengue were reported in Lockhart, in the northwest part of the county.