Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • ‘They only cut off half my left foot.' What happens when inmate care goes wrong in Georgia?

    Without federal oversight, prisons are left to their own devices to determine what sort of health care they want to provide. That, combined with limited funding and resources, often leads to low-cost privatized health care that doesn’t necessarily have safeguards or patient-centered interests. While an increasingly complex issue, the response of privatized health care for inmates requires reform, but won’t get there unless the sheriffs that oversee these prisons embrace them.

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  • To Prevent Deadly Infections, F.D.A. Approves the First Disposable ‘Scope'

    Duodenoscopes are used to "diagnose and treat diseases of the pancreas and bile duct," but were found to be in danger of infecting patients when practiced as a reusable tool. To reduce the risk of infection, a disposable model was developed, and although there are limitations to consider such as environmental impact, it has so far received high scores in clinical trials.

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  • A Construction Company Embraces Frank Talk About Mental Health To Reduce Suicide

    Making mental health a priority at the workplace reduces the risk of suicide. The RK construction company in Salt Lake City has responded to employee suicide by changing its workplace culture. The company has implemented measures such as counseling services, mental health training for managers, and 24 hour access to counseling services. Work teams also practice “Toolbox Talks,” opening up and discussing issues with each other several times a week.

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  • For sheriffs, healthcare for inmates can be a burden. For one doctor, it has been the opportunity of a lifetime.

    As prison populations have increased dramatically since the 1980s, prisons have outsourced inmate health care to private companies, like CorrectHealth, to save money. While it is the most incentivizing when it comes to cost, this is only possible because private companies have to have the lowest bid – meaning they skimp on spending for inmates in the long run. The result has shown to be not just a decrease in the health care services offered to inmates, but more litigation for companies providing allegedly inadequate care.

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  • How Do You Solve A Problem Like Lead Pipes? Lessons From Cities Getting It Done

    Chicago has thousands of miles of lead pipes supplying water to homes and business, and they all need to be replaced because of the risk of contaminating drinking water. Although this task is difficult, three other cities in the nation have projects underway that are providing a model for Chicago to consider.

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  • Denmark Raises Antibiotic-Free Pigs. Why Can't the U.S.?

    In the United States, the use of antibiotics in livestock operations has become relatively standard, but a practice in Denmark is proving that antibiotics aren't necessarily crucial to the process. Although not all buy into this practice, one veterinarian has stated that “by changing the way farmers raise their animals, Denmark has shown that you can substantially reduce antimicrobial use in pig production and that it can be done without any long-term impact on productivity.”

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  • Philly wants to bring back a version of an old strategy to fight gun violence. Specifics are pending.

    Starting in 2013, Philadelphia's focused deterrence program was credited with 35% fewer shootings in its targeted neighborhoods. The program featured "call-ins" where law-enforcement agencies would threaten potentially violent people with prosecution. On the flip side, they could receive services that help them establish a different lifestyle. As the program shifted away from the services "carrots," and was left only with the "stick," the program foundered. In 2019, the city sought to revive it as a "group violence intervention" program with a greater emphasis on services over law enforcement.

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  • Why One City is Prioritizing Financial Empowerment

    To tackle the inequality and lack of opportunity facing many of its historically marginalized communities, St. Paul, Minnesota, recently opened an Office of Financial Empowerment. The office will create a city-wide strategy to address ways to improve the financial health of citizens, including an assessment of the ways that government fines and fees might actually work against residents. The city expects successes similar to an effort to eliminate all library fees, which helped increase traffic to low-income libraries and allowed those with previously suspended library cards to check out books again.

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  • Prosecution Declined

    The way in which Kentucky’s Louisville Metro Police Department handles rape cases has come into question. The department’s low level of cases being brought to trial is because of the extra step police officers take: checking with prosecutors to see if they’ll take the case to court. If prosecutors won’t, the police don’t make arrests. The policy is justified as victim-centered. But experts say this, combined with other problematic practices by the LMPD, can leave survivors feeling as though they aren’t believed and alone with their trauma.

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  • The Case for Portland-to-Vancouver High-Speed Rail

    In an age of congestion and bumper-to-bumper traffic along the Pacific Northwest I-5 corridor, Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver, BC look to the success of high-speed trains in Europe for inspiration. The international phenomenon of cross-country bullet trains - some reaching up to 250mph - has reduced transport time and competes with short-term flights that expend massive amounts of fuel. Now, the Pacific Northwest cities discuss plans to overhaul their current lagging transportation in exchange for a new high-speed railway.

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