Listen Updated 10:00 p.m. The most critically injured students from Marshall County High School were all life-flighted from Kentucky to Vanderbilt Medical Center. The school shooting, which killed two and injured 17, was a first for the hospital in 30 years as a Level I trauma center.
TennCare Enacts 5-Day Opioid Prescription Limit With Broader Proposals To Come
Listen This week, Tennessee’s Medicaid program began enforcing a limit on first-time opioid prescriptions. TennCare patients can only get enough pills for five days. Legislative leaders say similar restrictions are in the works to regulate painkiller prescribing for all Tennesseans.
Intensive Mental Health Aid Expands For High-Needs Kids In Rural Tennessee
A program to assist desperate parents in rural Tennessee is expanding to DeKalb and half a dozen other counties. The initiative, which is already operating in Putnam and Coffee counties, establishes a two-person support team — a care coordinator and a family support specialist, who is often the parent of a child with a mental […]
Nashville General Says Community Care Depends On Remaining A Full-Service Hospital
Listen Mayor Megan Barry has now given until the end of the year for some kind of restructuring at Nashville General Hospital to begin, but the only idea on the table at the moment is hers: Close the inpatient hospital to save money and focus instead on outpatient chronic disease care. Hospital officials say they’re […]
Beleaguered Franklin-Based Hospital Chain Buoyed By Chinese Investment
The biggest investor in a Franklin-based hospital chain is giving a much-needed vote of confidence in a company thought to be on the verge of collapse.
Legislative Leaders Support Work Requirement For TennCare
Leaders of the Tennessee General Assembly are jumping at the chance to add a work requirement for TennCare. A new policy from the Trump Administration allows Medicaid programs in each state to pursue new restrictions.
Metro Council Balks At Closure Of Cash-Strapped General Hospital
One of the Metro Council’s most conservative members has joined the effort to keep Nashville General Hospital open, even if it means spending more money. Councilman Steve Glover is proposing a ban on closure of the city’s safety-net facility.
One Factor In Some Tennessee Overdose Deaths? Addiction Treatment Medication
Listen Medication used to treat opioid addiction has now been blamed as a factor in dozens of overdose deaths in Tennessee. According to data released by the state health department, toxicology reports found buprenorphine played a role in 67 of the 1,600 overdose deaths in 2016.
Republican Legislator Blames Failure Of Insure Tennessee For Latest Rural Hospital Closure
Listen Tennessee’s reluctance to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act is still being blamed for the high number of hospital closures in the state — the most in the U.S. outside of Texas. And this week brings one more. The Decatur County Commission decided to close its only hospital this week, citing the increased […]
Flu Is Bigger Concern Than Frostbite Amid Nashville’s Deep Freeze
Listen The cold may not be sending many people to the hospital for prolonged exposure, but the extended sub-freezing temperatures are promoting an especially intense flu season.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM