WASHINGTON (AP) — Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius says she has had no conversations with President Barack Obama about possibly joining his Cabinet as health secretary.
Sebelius (seh-BEEL’-yuhs) was in Washington on Sunday for the winter meetings of the National Governors Association.
Administration officials have said she is near the top of the list of people being considered to run the Health and Human Service Department. But Sebelius tells Read the rest of this entry »

– President Obama pledged Tuesday night to cure Americans from what he called “the crushing cost of health costs,” saying the country could not afford to put health-care reform on hold.
“This is a cost that now causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds. By the end of the year, it could cause 1.5 million Americans to lose their homes,” Obama said in his speech to a joint session of Congress.
Obama pointed to the increasing number of uninsured Read the rest of this entry »

Established in October, the Gloucester Family Health Center at 302 Washington St. offers a broad scope of services uniquely tailored to care for the local community.
The new Gloucester center is the fourth site of its parent company, North Shore Community Health Inc., which operates three other locations in Salem and Peabody. The non-profit organizations receive both Medicaid and Medicare funding and are overseen by a board of directors, half of Read the rest of this entry »

With February’s National Children’s Dental Health Month upon them, academic, industry and government leaders can point to improvements. They formed a Dental Action Committee that has won aid for local health centers; streamlined the Medicaid program; and sent hygienists into the community to provide screenings. They’ve been gaining commitments from dentists to treat poor children. They worry, however, that the bad economy will set back efforts and Read the rest of this entry »

conference in Hong Kong said that the region is facing a resurgence of HIV cases among men who have sex with men that will not subside without increased government efforts, the
reports (Freeda,
, 2/19). The conference was organized in partnership with Hong Kong’s
, the
and included about 50 government officials responsible for HIV/AIDS and MSM programs, as well as other experts.
According to officials at the conference, discriminatory laws, Read the rest of this entry »

OTTAWA — Canadian women experience a significant decline in health and quality of life between the ages of 40 and 50, compared to men during the same period of life, suggests a Statistics Canada study.
The study, released Wednesday, suggests women in their 40s experience more health problems — for example, illness linked to emotional stress — that lead to a poorer quality of life than their male counterparts during that particular Read the rest of this entry »

Hospital operator
Health Management Associates Inc.
said Monday its profit climbed 17 percent in the fourth quarter, aided by a large gain from early debt retirement.
The company reported net income of $14.5 million, or 6 cents per share. That compares with $12.5 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, Health Management Associates
) said it earned 7 cents per share from continuing operations. Revenue grew 3 Read the rest of this entry »

It just got a little easier to find health-care services closer to home.
On Thursday, the Ontario government launched two new initiatives to improve access to health care, and hopefully relieve stress on the province’s emergency rooms.
Health Care Connect aims to help people find a family health-care provider.
Dr. Mark Mensour, emergency department lead with the North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), said the program aims Read the rest of this entry »

FORT WAYNE, Indiana (AFP) — For many among the growing ranks of unemployed workers in the United States, the scariest part of losing their job is losing their health insurance.
Even before the current economic crisis, 45 million Americans were uninsured. That number is expected to rise to 54 million by 2019 if changes aren’t made to the system, according to the director of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
One of the swelling Read the rest of this entry »

Two separate studies have linked Mediterranean diet to a lower risk of heart disease in women and prostate cancer in men.
Researchers from Simmons College in Boston found that women whose diets most closely resembled the Mediterranean diet were 29 percent less likely to suffer from heart disease, and 13 percent less likely to have a stroke compared with those whose diets least resembled it.
This type of diet is includes monounsaturated fats, vegetables, Read the rest of this entry »