Most-connected

Most-connected

YOUNGSTOWN

St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital, St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and St. Joseph Warren Hospital have been recognized among the most-connected hospitals for 2015-16 by U.S. News & World Report. The U.S. News Most Connected Hospitals list recognizes hospitals whose excellence in patient safety, patient engagement and clinical connectedness improves patient care.

The three hospitals are part of Mercy Health Youngstown, formerly Humility of Mary Health Partners, and are among the 159 hospitals that make up the U.S. News roster that were recognized for their commitment to the use of digital technology in health care.

Naloxone efforts

WASHINGTON, D.C.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, joined his Senate colleagues in calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to help schools trying to maintain a supply of naloxone for use in an opioid overdose emergency.

In a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the senators asked that existing grant programs be opened up so schools can use the funds to purchase naloxone or other medications that can reverse overdoses, and to train school nurses and other school personnel to administer the medication.

The National Association of School Nurses recommends that school nurses facilitate access to naloxone in schools. While some states have laws or programs allowing school nurses and other personnel to administer naloxone at schools, they are mostly unfunded and underutilized. Other states are looking at similar laws in an effort to solve America’s heroin crisis and overdose epidemic, Brown said.

Lung-cancer awareness

COLUMBUS

The American Lung Association in Ohio calls for greater awareness and increased research investment during November, Lung Cancer Awareness Month.

Lung cancer is the top cancer killer of women and men, killing almost twice as many women as any other cancer. Anyone can get lung cancer, yet awareness among women remains low. In honor of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the American Lung Association in Ohio encourages everyone in Ohio to learn more about lung cancer, as greater awareness can save lives.

Lung-cancer diagnoses have nearly doubled among all women in the past 37 years, yet only 1 percent of women cite lung cancer as a top-of-mind cancer concern. To raise awareness about lung cancer, the American Lung Association launched LUNG FORCE, a nationwide initiative that unites women in the fight against lung cancer.

More-personalized treatment options and early detection methods are needed for the more than 100,000 women who will be diagnosed with lung cancer in 2015, and 4,262 here in Ohio.”