WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The head of the Kansas Geological Survey says no one should become complacent just because fewer earthquakes are rattling southern Kansas.

Rex Buchanan says oil-waste regulations that seem to have contributed to lowering the number of earthquakes are set to expire Sept. 13.

The Kansas Corporation Commission approved regulations in March to limit the underground disposal of saltwater that comes up with the oil. The Wichita Eagle reports injecting that water back into the ground is considered a likely cause of increased earthquakes in Kansas and Oklahoma. Most of the Kansas earthquakes have been in Harper and Sumner counties.

Buchanan says it would be short-sighted to assume the problem is solved. He says the state needs to be better prepared than it was in the past.

NEW YORK (AP) — Kraft Heinz is expanding a recall of Kraft Singles products, saying a problem with the packaging film affects 10 times as many cases as it first thought.

The company recalled 335,000 cases Thursday because a thin strip of packaging film may stick to the slice after the wrapper has been taken off, creating a choking hazard. Kraft Heinz took 36,000 cases off the market July 31 for the same reason.

The privately-held company said it’s received two new reports of customers choking. It disclosed three such reports in July.

The recall covers 1-, 3- and 4-pound Kraft Singles American and White American cheese product sold in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and 10 other countries and territories. The cases have “Best When Used by Dates” from Dec. 29 through Jan. 4.

By DAVE RANNEY

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced this week that it had renewed its navigator grants with two Kansas programs: Ascension Health and the Kansas Association for the Medically Underserved (KAMU).

The grants will, in part, underwrite the programs’ efforts to help uninsured and underinsured Kansans understand the coverage and financial assistance that are available on the federal health insurance marketplace, healthcare.gov. The marketplace was established as part of the Affordable Care Act to increase access to health insurance.

“We’re looking forward to helping more people enroll in health plans that they can afford and that will best meet their needs,” said KAMU spokesperson Katrina McGivern.

KAMU’s grant is for $516,000 a year for three years, while Ascension Health will receive $247,000 a year for three years.

Between November 2014 and February 2015, KAMU-sponsored navigators helped more than 15,300 Kansans buy insurance and Ascension Health-sponsored navigators helped 4,000.

Ascension Health is the nation’s largest Catholic nonprofit health system. Its Kansas holdings include the Via Christi Health hospitals in Wichita and Pittsburg, Mercy Regional Health Center in Manhattan and Wamego Health Center in Wamego, as well as several clinics throughout the state.

“This is going to allow us to help individuals throughout the Kansas community get coverage and, in the long run, get the screenings and prevention services they need to catch cancers earlier,” said Maggie Ward, who oversees Ascension Health’s navigators in Kansas.

Ascension Health’s navigators, she said, make sure their patients understand that under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans are required to cover cancer screenings and preventive treatments.

“Hopefully this will help us catch problems long before (patients) wind up in the hospital with a significant disease,” Ward said.

Ascension Health, she said, plans to use a portion of its grant to develop webinars and expand its teleconferencing abilities.

KAMU, McGivern said, will use its grant to hire 15 full-time navigators prior to the Nov. 1 start of the 2015-2016 open enrollment period.

A “special emphasis,” she said, will be placed on reaching out to the 341,000 Kansans who are currently uninsured.

“We’re also going to host 10 ‘Cover Kansas’ open-enrollment events where navigators in a particular area — Wichita, for example — will all come together and be available at the same time,” McGivern said.

Though KAMU represents the state’s safety net clinics, it administers its grant on behalf of the Cover Kansas Consortium. That group includes the Kansas Hospital Education and Research Foundation, Kansas Association of Local Health Departments, Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas, Kansas Health Reform Project and the Kansas Association of Area Agencies on Aging and Disabilities.

KAMU and Ascension Health were awarded navigator grants in 2013 and 2014.

Kansas is one of 34 states dividing more than $67 million in navigator grants this year.

In Missouri, three organizations received navigator grants: Missouri Alliance of Area Agencies on Aging, which serves 110 counties and got $891,095; Planned Parenthood of St. Louis, which got $388,787; and St. Louis Effort for AIDS, Inc., which got $545,704.

 

Dave Ranney is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) — Emporia State University says it’s completed an investigation into hate crime and discrimination allegations at the eastern Kansas university.

Jackie Vietti, ESU’s interim president, said in a letter released Thursday the university’s concluded its investigation that began July 10 into the alleged hate crime at the university’s School of Library and Information Management.

Vietti didn’t say what the investigation concluded, but says officials will release an investigation summary after meeting with people involved.

University spokeswoman Gwen Larson says the investigation stems from allegations by Angelica Hale, a former ESU dean’s assistant, and her husband, Melvin Hale, an assistant professor in the university’s School of Library and Information Management.

The Hales say they’ve endured a hostile work environment since reporting someone left a racial epithet in Angelica Hale’s graduate assistant’s office.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — About 200 people attended a town hall meeting about the possible transfer of Guantanamo Bay detainees to Fort Leavenworth.

The Kansas City Star reports Gov. Sam Brownback announced the meeting last week. He opposes the detainee transfer.

Brownback received notice that the U.S. Defense Department was surveying the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth and the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in South Carolina to assess the possibility of housing Guantanamo detainees.

At the meeting Thursday in Leavenworth, Mayor Lisa Weakley cited security concerns and said the move would put a “huge target on our community.”

But State Sen. David Haley, a Kansas City, Kansas, Democrat, said the town hall was “a political sideshow” and he didn’t have any concerns about safety for Fort Leavenworth or the community.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Supreme Court is launching an initiative to centralize and standardize the electronic filing and storage of documents across the state.

A steering committee for the “eCourt” project was having its first meeting Thursday in Topeka. The Supreme Court established the committee in April.

The project is being financed with court fees, with at least $4.1 million set aside over the next four years.

Some district courts introduced electronic filing in 2009, and more than half of the state’s 31 judicial districts allow attorneys and court employees to file and store documents electronically.

In Douglas County, electronic filing is required, and the Supreme Court and state Court of Appeals will start requiring it in November.

But the Supreme Court wants to standardize filing systems so they can interact.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas nurse who pleaded guilty to mistreating an adult at an Andover nursing home faces 60 days in jail.

KWCH reports Geofrey Nyangweso pleaded guilty to mistreating a dependent adult at Victoria Falls Skilled Nursing Home in Andover in 2013. He was sentenced Thursday.

Judge David Ricke also ruled that Nyangweso is no longer allowed to work in any care facility working with patients.

The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services said earlier it had cited the nursing home for failing to meet certain regulations and failing to investigate some abuse complaints.

A department inspection showed at least two of the 63 residents suffered verbal and physical abuse, including one targeted by at least four staff members and another who had been abused by another resident.

NEW YORK (AP) — Crude oil futures prices ended higher on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The near-month contract for the benchmark grade rose 50 cents — closing at $46.75 a barrel.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — Friends University in Wichita has partnered with four area community colleges to offer on-site degree programs.

The university announced Wednesday it will work with students attending Hutchinson Community College, Dodge City Community College, Garden City Community College and Seward County Community College in Liberal.

The Hutchinson News reports the program, called “Finish with Friends,” will offer degree completion programs in accounting, business management, computer information systems and human resource management at the four community colleges. Garden City Community College students can earn an undergraduate degree in accounting through the program.

Students will be able to attend upper-level classes taught by Friends University faculty on each community college campus. The students will be guaranteed admission to Friends University and may transfer up to 78 credit hours.

Hutchinson – On Wednesday a federal judge vacated the ‘threatened’ listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken due to a power-hungry move by the Fish and Wildlife Service that ignored the law and the voluntary conservation efforts and state and local conservation efforts.

Huelskamp issued the following statement:

“In countless efforts my office made to oppose this listing and protect Kansas farmers and ranchers, I always maintained that the Lesser Prairie Chicken would recover as the drought abated and we continued our voluntary conservation efforts. Today, a federal judge agreed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ignored the law and never performed a valid analysis to demonstrate otherwise.”

WASHINGTON– Kenosha Beef International LTD, a Kenosha, Wis. establishment, is recalling approximately 89,235 pounds of pork sausage patty products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

The frozen, pork sausage patties were produced on May 13, 2015. The following products are subject to recall:

24-oz. cartons of “Johnsonville Grillers CHEDDAR CHEESE & BACON FLAVOR.”
13.5-lb. cases of “Johnsonville Grillers CHEDDAR CHEESE & BACON FLAVOR” containing nine, 24-oz. cartons of the product.
Retail products subject to recall bear the establishment number “EST. 425B” and a “BEST FLAVOR BY” date of “12/29/15” on the end flap of the package. Cases of the recalled product bear the establishment number

“EST. 425B” inside the USDA mark of inspection on the generic label. These items were shipped to retail locations in eleven states including Kansas.

The problem was discovered after the firm began receiving consumer complaints that small pieces of metal were being found in the products. The source of the extraneous material is unknown at this time.

FSIS and the company have received no reports of oral injury, adverse reactions or illness due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider.

Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

By ANDY MARSO

A federal rule buried in a host of other proposed Medicare and Medicaid changes has nursing home administrators in Kansas — and other states — shaking their heads.

Released in July, the rule would require nursing homes and other long-term care facilities to have residents examined by a doctor, physician’s assistant, nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist before they are transferred to a hospital. Failure to comply could cause a “deficiency” mark in the nursing home’s annual Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services review.

Such marks can lead to fines, withheld payments and downgrades in a facility’s publicly available CMS rating. Each nursing home has a contract with a medical director who meets the level of expertise required by the hospital transfer rule, but in most cases that director is off-site. Few facilities have medical personnel of that level on staff.

The goal of the proposed rule is to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations.

But Reginald Hislop, who operates a nursing home in Wichita, said it’s just not practical.

“That is going to be impossible to comply with,” Hislop said. “I don’t care who you are. I don’t care where you are. Unless you’re connected to a hospital, with hospitalists right next to you, I don’t know how you’re going to comply.” Hislop is not alone in his concerns.

Blair Jackson is vice president of public affairs for the American Health Care Association, an advocacy group for long-term care providers. Jackson said the hospital transfer rule is one of many red flags in the CMS proposal that his association’s members are discussing.

“It’s definitely an area of concern nationally,” he said. Jackson noted that the rules have yet to be approved. His organization is encouraging members to file public comments with CMS before the Sept. 14 deadline.

William Polglase, who works in media relations for CMS, declined to comment on the hospital transfer requirement except to say that it is part of proposed rules and that input on them is encouraged.

“CMS will carefully consider all comments,” Polglase said. Jackson said the hospital transfer rule will be especially difficult for facilities in rural areas, where the few health care providers often must travel long distances to see residents in person.

Hislop’s nursing home, Larksfield Place Retirement Community, is in a metropolitan area and licensed for a total of 170 nursing home and assisted living residents. But even in Wichita, he said, getting a doctor to the facility during the day would take about an hour. Getting one in the middle of the night would be nearly impossible.

“In terms of after hours, it’s just not going to happen,” Hislop said.

The proposed rule provides an exception for “emergency situations where the health or safety of the individual would be endangered” but does not define those situations. Hislop said that leaves too many unknowns for staff to determine before a hospital transfer.

A resident complaining of chest pains could have heartburn or a heart attack. One complaining of abdominal pain could have gas or acute appendicitis. Hislop said he will submit comments directly to CMS and through his advocacy group LeadingAge Kansas. He has notified the Kansas congressional delegation of his concerns.

CMS announced the 100-plus pages of proposed rules for long-term care facilities July 13, saying it was the first major revamp of the regulations since 1991.

After CMS officials receive and consider the comments, they will decide whether to adjust the regulations and then will issue a “final rule.” There’s no timeline yet for when that might happen.

Sylvia Burwell, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said the proposal would prevent unnecessary hospitalizations and infections and increase the quality of care for 1.5 million Americans living in nursing homes, including 16,000 Kansans as of 2013.

“This proposal is just one part of the administration’s overall commitment to transform our health system to deliver better quality care and spend our health care dollars in a smarter way,” Burwell said in a prepared statement.

“Today’s measures set high standards for quality and safety in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. When a family makes the decision for a loved one to be placed in a nursing home or long-term care facility, they need to know that their loved one’s health and safety are priorities.”

The CMS regulations proposed in July are in addition to new regulations imposed on Medicare and Medicaid providers by the federal Affordable Care Act. Cindy Luxem is president and CEO of the Kansas Health Care Association, which represents for-profit nursing homes statewide.

Luxem called the entire July Medicare proposal “the biggest unfunded mandate our providers have ever faced.” “It’s the put-us-out-of-business rule,” she said. “Because the federal government is reaching way too far into our world of health care. … I don’t know how the providers can get ahead of anything.”

Hislop’s facility is a nonprofit. He said the CMS proposal reflects a lack of understanding of the current shortage of health care professionals. The hospital transfer rule, in particular, assumes a world in which doctors and nurses are available to evaluate residents at a moment’s notice.

But Hislop said many nursing home residents struggle to find a primary care doctor, even in urban areas. “If you’re out in Russell, Kansas, what are you going to do?” he asked. “How many doctors do you think are out there?”

 

Andy Marso is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Newman University officials say a 21-year-old wrestler from the school died when his motorcycle crashed into a building.

The school says Reece Wright-Conklin was on his way to work at the PetSmart in west Wichita Thursday morning when the accident occurred.

The Wichita Eagle reports Wright-Conklin crashed his Honda 600 sport bike into the side of the building. He was discovered by a co-worker arriving for work and flown to a Wichita hospital, where he died.

Wichita police Lt. Joe Schroeder says police aren’t sure exactly when the crash occurred.

A prayer service will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday in St. John’s Chapel, inside Sacred Heart Hall on the Newman campus.

Funeral arrangements are pending.