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Whereas being in the right place at the right time saved Caiden's life, what is being described as remarkable is the fact that he recovered quickly and was back on the baseball diamond, as a member of North Gwinnett's varsity baseball team, in February, 10 months after his injury.

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ATLANTA – The Republican-controlled state Senate approved a bill Monday night that would bar certain gender-affirming treatments for youths under age 18.  Sponsored by Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele, Senate Bill 140, which passed 33-22 along party lines, would prohibit hospitals and doctors from providing either hormone-replacement therapy or gender-affirming surgeries to minors.   “This is simply […]

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ATLANTA – The Georgia House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a mental health reform bill Thursday that follows up on landmark mental health legislation the late House Speaker David Ralston steered through last year. House Bill 520, which passed 163-3, has the dual goals of growing Georgia’s mental-health workforce and finding better alternatives for patients than […]

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ATLANTA – Legislation exempting most rural hospitals from Georgia’s certificate of need law cleared the state Senate Monday. Senators voted 42-13 to no longer require proposed new acute-care hospitals in counties with populations of fewer than 50,000 residents to have to prove to the state that the medical services they plan to offer are needed […]

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ATLANTA – Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has created a $200 million fund and formed a partnership with Mercer University School of Medicine to bolster rural healthcare for the youngest Georgians.   The new partnership will fund 10 full scholarships for medical students who study at Mercer and agree to practice pediatric medicine in rural Georgia for […]

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ATLANTA – A state Senate committee narrowly approved legislation late Tuesday that would replace Georgia’s certificate of need (CON) law governing hospitals with a less restrictive “special health-care service” license. The original version of Senate Bill 162 introduced last week called for a complete repeal of CON, a move legislative Republicans and conservative public policy […]

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ATLANTA – The state legislature is set to consider a wide-ranging  mental health reform bill that aims at improving services for Georgians struggling with mental-health or substance-abuse challenges.   House Bill 520 has bipartisan support and is cosponsored by state Reps. Todd Jones, R-South Forsyth, and Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur.   Last year, the General Assembly unanimously approved […]

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The life-affirming song “I Hope You Dance” accompanied the traditional academic procession and recession of the Class of 2024 during their White Coat Ceremony, dubbed “the most unique White Coat Ceremony in the history of PCOM” by class chair Andrew Wilson (PharmD ’24).

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ATLANTA – Georgia’s “tripledemic” — the simultaneous outbreaks of flu, COVID, and respiratory synctical virus (RSV) — is on the decline, state epidemiologist Cherie Drenzek said Wednesday.  The flu season started early and peaked in October both nationally and in Georgia, Drenzek told members of the Georgia Board of Public Health during its first meeting […]

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ATLANTA – The first certificate of need (CON) reform bill to surface in the General Assembly this year was prompted by a specific hospital project but would have statewide implications. Senate Bill 99 would exempt parties wishing to build an acute-care hospital in a rural county from Georgia’s CON law, which requires applicants to show […]

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ATLANTA – The state Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would prohibit government agencies from requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination to access government facilities or services.   The bill continues a long debate about what role COVID vaccinations should play in public life in Georgia after they first began to be administered in December 2020.   Last year, […]

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ATLANTA – State lawmakers have eased restrictions in Georgia’s certificate of need (CON) law over the years, making it easier for providers to build new health-care facilities or offer new medical services without proving the community needs them. Now, a push is on to repeal the CON law altogether, bolstered by a six-figure ad campaign […]

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ATLANTA – The mental health of Georgians, especially children, took center stage Tuesday during the first day of state budget hearings at the state Capitol. Leaders of Georgia’s main health-care agencies told legislators how they plan to address the challenges Georgians face as well as how much those plans will cost. Candice Broce, director of […]

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ATLANTA – A record number of Georgians – over 846,000 – signed up for health insurance for 2023 under the Affordable Care Act during the latest open enrollment period, which ended on Sunday. That’s about 8% of the state’s population, and at least 145,000 more than signed up for the program last year. The program […]

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ATLANTA – An Augusta University Health System (AUHS) – WellStar partnership proposed last month is in line with national trends toward health-care partnerships, experts said this week as a few additional details emerged about the plan.   AUHS is a key training facility for medical residents and other future health-care providers. It houses the Medical College […]

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ATLANTA – After failing to win federal approval to exit the federal insurance marketplace earlier this year, Georgia has established its own health-insurance portal directing people to private insurers and brokers to buy health insurance.  The new website, called Georgia Access, includes links to 10 health-insurance companies – including big players such as United, Kaiser […]

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Marietta-based Wellstar Health System and Augusta University Health System (AUHS) have signed a letter of intent to form a partnership, the two systems announced Tuesday.

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ATLANTA – The federal government should ensure Medicare Advantage insurers Humana and Aetna cover cataract surgeries for older Georgians without delays or denials, Georgia’s Democratic Congressional representatives said this week.   Aetna started requiring prior authorizations (PAs) for cataract surgeries in its Medicare Advantage plans across the country last year. After protests from doctors and others, […]

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ATLANTA – As overdoses have skyrocketed in Georgia – more than 13,000 this year alone, according to the state Department of Public Health — so has demand for the life-saving drug naloxone, which reverses the deadly effects of an opioid overdose.

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ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp named former state Rep. Kevin Tanner Wednesday to head Georgia’s mental health agency. Tanner, a Republican from Dawsonville, will become commissioner of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities on Dec. 16, succeeding the retired Judy Fitzgerald. “Kevin Tanner is a capable and dedicated leader who has made […]

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ATLANTA – An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Georgia allowed an off-site doctor to perform unwanted gynecological procedures on detained women in a failure of human rights, the bipartisan U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has found. “Female detainees in Georgia were subjected by a [Department of Homeland Security]-contracted doctor to excessive, […]

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ATLANTA – Georgia’s flu activity is currently very high, state epidemiologist Dr. Cherie Drenzek said during the state Department of Public Health (DPH) board meeting Tuesday.   Flu activity is spread around Georgia but is especially concentrated in metro Atlanta and around Macon and Columbus, Drenzek said.   The state’s flu activity has been high since mid-August […]

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ATLANTA – Mental health advocates urged Georgians Tuesday to “vote for mental health” at a press conference at the state Capitol.   “Mental health is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. It is a Georgia issue,” said Kim Jones, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Georgia. “Make sure your voice is […]

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ATLANTA – Georgia’s main behavioral health agency will soon be getting a new leader to replace Commissioner Judy Fitzgerald, who announced this week that she will retire from the role.   Fitzgerald was first appointed commissioner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) by then-Gov. Nathan Deal in 2016. Prior to […]

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ATLANTA – Cases of COVID-19 and monkeypox are continuing to decline in Georgia, officials with the state Department of Public Health reported Tuesday. COVID cases in Georgia are down about 80% since mid-August, Dr. Cherie Drenzek, the agency’s epidemiologist and chief science officer, told members of the state Board of Public Health. Hospitalizations are down […]

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ATLANTA – Georgians who are members of two large Medicare Advantage plans may face a tougher time getting cataract surgery – a routine eye procedure for older people. That’s because Aetna and Humana now require doctors in Georgia to get prior approval for cataract removal for Medicare Advantage enrollees.  Georgia eye doctors say the requirements […]

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ATLANTA – The state will funnel $130 million in federal COVID relief funds to Grady Memorial Hospital to help offset the impact of the looming closure of WellStar’s Atlanta Medical Center (AMC), Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday. The Republican governor and two Atlanta-area Democratic leaders addressed how Georgia’s capital city will cope with the closure […]

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ATLANTA – Both COVID and monkeypox rates are starting to decline in Georgia, the state’s chief science officer said Tuesday during an update to the state Board of Public Health.

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