Pennsylvania limits the opportunity to serve as governor to two terms and Gov. Wolf is in the last year of his second term. Consequently, as with previous administrations, this means that key members of the team are leaving as opportunities present. The newest departure is Keara Klinepeter who served as acting secretary of the Department of Health since her predecessor, Alison Beam, left at the end of 2021. Gov. Wolf announced that his physician general, Dr. Denise Johnson, will take over the leadership of DOH. Read more.

A bipartisan bill in Harrisburg aims to permanently allow pharmacists and trained pharmacy staff members to vaccinate children. The temporary privilege is set to expire whenever the COVID-19 public health emergency ends. Read more.

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) provides this background brief on the Rural Community Development Program and its grants to create safe water systems for unincorporated areas and communities with high and persistent poverty.  Get more details of successful outcomes in a series of videos that include the story of the Colorado River Indian Tribes.

In addition to seeking feedback from the public on maternal health, CMS also included other requests for information in the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule. This includes requests for information on how health care providers may prepare for climate change, social determinants of health (particularly related to homelessness), and measurement of health care quality disparities. Additionally, CMS is seeking feedback and comments on the appropriateness of payment adjustments that would account for additional resource costs associated with the procurement of surgical N95 respirators that are wholly domestically made. Rural stakeholders interested in providing input to CMS can review the full details, along with instructions on how to respond, in the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released additional details about the proposed “Birthing-Friendly” hospital designation intended to drive improvements in maternal health outcomes and assist consumers in choosing hospitals. Initially, the publicly reported maternity care quality hospital (“Birthing-Friendly”) designation would be based on a hospital’s attestation to the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program’s Maternal Morbidity Structural Measure. Rural stakeholders interested in providing input to CMS on the “Birthing-Friendly” hospital designation should review the full details of the proposal, along with instructions on how to respond, in the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule (also posted above). Eventually, CMS intends to expand the criteria for which this designation would be awarded in the future. In the IPPS proposed rule, CMS also included a request for information on additional activities to advance maternal health equity.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the fiscal year 2023 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long‑Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System (PPS) proposed rule. The proposal would update Medicare fee-for-service payment rates and policies for inpatient hospitals and LTCHs and build on key priorities to address quality and maternity care. CMS proposes to continue policies finalized in the FY 2020 IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule to address wage index disparities affecting low wage index hospitals and also proposes to limit year-to-year decreases in hospitals’ wage indexes. This proposed rule includes changes to graduate medical education policies, including increased flexibility for rural hospitals participating in a rural track program. This rule also includes proposed revisions to the hospital and Critical Access Hospital Conditions of participation for infection prevention and control and antibiotic stewardship programs – Comment by June 17

In an open-access article on the JAMA Network, researchers describe their findings when 471,791 rural U.S. veterans with a history of mental health care use received video-enabled tablets to access services. The study included rural veterans identified by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) as a high risk for suicide and compared monthly mental health service utilization for patients who received VA tablets during COVID-19 with patients who were not issued tablets over 10 months before and after tablet shipment.

Also last week, HRSA announced $16 million in awards administered by its Maternal and Child Health Bureau to support pregnant people and parents with young children.

Over the course of two days (May 16-17), public and private sector leaders will discuss best practices and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Topics include the role of telehealth in underserved communities, achieving health equity through improved broadband connectivity, and telehealth as a model for integrating behavioral health care during the pandemic and beyond.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a new collaboration between federal agencies and local leaders and residents.  The Rural Partners Network is a whole-of-government approach that includes 16 federal agencies and regional commissions to help rural communities access government resources and funding. At launch, selected communities in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, and certain Tribes within Arizona will participate to share local concerns and ensure rural communities have a voice in policymaking.