New Kentucky website provides data, maps and charts on how the environment affects human health, county by county

The website's address is Healthtracking.ky.gov.

The state Department for Public Health has launched a new resource for tracking a variety of topics that affect health in Kentucky. 

The website Healthtracking.ky.gov not only includes information and data about how the environment affects human health in a number of ways, but also presents data in map, chart or table formats for subcategories in each topic area. 

For example, under the category of heart disease and stroke, the site also provides information about the age-adjusted rate of hospitalization for heart attacks in each county, the crude rate of hospitalizations for heart attack in each county, and the number of hospitalizations for heart attack in each county. 

Other topics include: air quality, asthma, birth defects, cancer, childhood lead poisoning, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), carbon-monoxide poisoning, climate and weather, drinking water, heat-related illness, radon (a naturally occuring, cancer-causing gas) and reproductive and birth outcomes. 

Data on the new site comes from several counrse, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Kentucky Cancer Registry, state and local Health Departments and many others. Data can be examined at a state or county level.

The site also offers online maps with information about local health departments, prescription assistance, social vulnerability, and community vulnerability to Covid-19. It is managed by the health department's Environmental Public Health Tracking Program.

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Rep. Guthrie's bipartisan bill to increase access to breakthrough therapies for people on Medicaid advances out of committee

Rep. Brett Guthrie addresses the House Energy
and Commerce Committee May 24. (Screenshot) 

U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie's bipartisan bill to help Medicaid patients access breakthrough therapies, including gene therapies, to treat and cure rare diseases was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday, May 24.

The bill would allow access to innovative treatments and cures by enabling states to voluntarily enter into value-based purchasing (VBP) agreements for drugs, which ties the cost of treatments to patients' clinical outcomes. 

The bill, H.R. 2666, has been dubbed the Medicaid VBPs for Patients Act, or MVP Act. It was one of 19 pieces of legislation considered by committee on May 24, many of them aimed at increasing transparency and competition in the health-care industry.

Guthrie, a Republican from Bowling Green who represents the Second Congressional District, chairs the committee's Health Subcommittee, which approved the bill May 17. He issued a statement saying:

“The Medicaid VBPs for Patients Act would help get life-saving treatments to the most vulnerable patients across the country. With the flexibility this legislation provides, states can make high-cost therapies and cures for rare diseases available without raising taxes or cutting other state programs. Value-based payments ensure states are not on the hook for paying a drug manufacturer for a high-cost treatment if it is not effective and can even save states money in the long-term in caring for a patient.”

Guthrie added, “I will continue pressing for this legislation that better aligns incentives in health care and helps people have a better life.”

The other sponsors of the bill are Democratic Reps Anna Eshoo of California and John Auchincloss of Massachusetts and Republican Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa and Dr. John Joyce of Pennsylvania.

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Hospital group honors health-care leaders at annual convention

By Melissa Patrick

Kentucky Health News

Larry Gray of Baptist Health Louisville and Carl Herde of the Kentucky Hospital Association were awarded the KHA's Distinguished Service Award at the association's 94th annual convention in Lexington May 17. 

The award, considered the association's highest honor, is given to individuals who have given untiring and exceptional service to their hospital, community, the state and KHA, according to a news release. 

Larry Gray accepts Distinguished Service Award
from KHA President Nancy Galvagni (Photo provided)

Gray is president of Baptist Health Louisville and has served in the Baptist Health system for more than 35 years. A hospital news release in February said he plans to retire this year.

The KHA release notes that Gray led the hospital through the Covid-19 pandemic and that Louisville Business First named him a Healthcare Hero for his extensive Covid-19 vaccine outreach and his leadership abilities. 

Prior to his role at the Louisville hospital, Gray served as the director of pastoral care in 1988, the vice president for System Support and Administrative Services at Baptist Health Lexington and president of Baptist Health Corbin. 

Carle Herde accepts Distinguished Service
Award from Nancy Galvagni (Photo provided)

Herde, vice-president of financial policy at KHA, also received the Distinguished Service Award. 

Herde started at Touche Ross & Co., the predecessor firm of Deloitte & Touche in Louisville. He joined Baptist Health in 1984 as a controller and eventually served as the chief financial officer and vice president during his 23 years with the system. He also served on multiple boards throughout his career. After retiring, Herde joined the KHA in 2016.  

During his time at the association, Herde led the charge to secure funding for Kentucky’s hospitals with the Hospital Rate Improvement Program. A KHA release said the program has helped keeping hospitals open during a financially difficult time.

KHA gave the late Thomas "Tommy" Elliott of LOuisville its Health Care Governance Leadership award, for individuals who make a positive and sustainable impact on the quality of care in their communities through their work as governing-board members. Elliott was killed in the mass shooting at Old National Bank in Louisville on April 10.

The KHA release says Elliott was committed to providing health equity for the people of Kentucky while serving on the boards of Baptist Health Louisville, the Baptist Health System and the Greater Louisville Foundation from 2008 to 2022. He also served on several charitable organizations’ boards.

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Surgeon general issues public-health advisory that warns about the dangers of social-media use to children's mental health

CNN image

By Melissa Patrick

Kentucky Health News

Concerns about the effects of social media on youth mental health prompted America's top public-health official to issue a rare public-health advisory that calls for a multifaceted approach to find ways to minimize the harm. 

"The bottom line is we do not have enough evidence to conclude that social media is sufficiently safe for our kids. In fact, there is increasing evidence that social media use during adolescence — a critical stage of brain development — is associated with harm to mental health and well-being. In light of the ongoing youth mental health crisis, it is no longer possible to ignore social media’s potential contribution to the pain that millions of children and families are experiencing," Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy writes in an op-ed about the advisory for The Washington Post. 

Social media use among teens is pervasive, with 95 percent of U.S. teenagers using the platforms and more than one-third saying they use social media "almost constantly," the report says. And this isn'y just a teenage phenomenon; nearly 40% of children 8 to 12 years old use social media. 

The advisory walks through the benefits and harms of social media for children. 

It says social media may benefit children by allowing them to connect easily with friends and family or those who share abilities interests and identities, and a space to express themselves and find support when they need it. 

But it also says social media use can result in reduced sleep among youth, and expose them to extreme, inappropriate content and online bullying. One study has found that youth who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of experiencing poor mental health, including symptoms of depression and anxiety. This is of great concern because on average, one survey found that eighth and 10th graders spend about three and a half hours a day on social media, says the report.

"More research is needed to fully understand the impact of social media," says the 19-page advisory, titled "Social Media and Youth Mental Health." Current evidence "indicates that while social media may have benefits for some children and adolescents, there are ample indicators that social media can also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents."

The advisory lays out steps that policymakers, technology companies, researchers, families and young people can take to make social media safer for youth. Following are some of the suggestions for various interests. 

Policymakers are encouraged to strengthen safety protections for children interacting with social media platforms and to develop age-appropriate health and safety standards. They are also called on to require higher safety standards of data privacy for children. 

Technology companies are urged to create safety standards for social media that protect youth from exposure to harmful content and online harassment. They are encouraged to limit features that manipulate youth into excessive and unhealthy use of social media. The report also calls on them to be transparent and to share their assessment findings and data with independent researchers. 

Families are asked to model responsible social-media behavior and to create a family media plan. It also asks families to create tech-free zones that encourage other activities. 

Youth are reminded that they can reach out for help if they are negatively affected by social media and to be cautious about what they share.

The American Psychological Association recently issued a health advisory on social-media use in adolescence that included 10 research-based recommendations.

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Rabbi at dedication of pandemic memorial says 'Denial can never cure disease, and ... distortions can never change facts'

Rabbi David Wirtschafter

Wednesday's dedication of the state's pandemic memorial closed with a prayer from Rabbi David Wirtschafter of Lexington's Temple Adath Israel, who first read his adaptation of Archibald MacLeish's poem "The Young Dead Soliders Do Not Speak," written about World War I. MacLeish had the soldiers say, "We leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning. Wirtschafter said sculptor Amanda Matthews' work "challenges us to answer the question: 'What will these Covid deaths mean?' Whether they are for a new hope, or for nothing, is tragically not up to those who died, but it is up to us." Then he read his adaptation of MacLeish's work:

"The casualties of Covid do not speak.
Nevertheless, they are heard in the still houses. Who has not heard them?
They have a silence the speaks for them at night, and when the clock counts.
They say, 'We were your fellow Kentuckians, your neighbors, your countrymen, your co-workers, your family, your friends. We have died. Remember us.
They say, 'We weren't allowed to finish our lives. Covid finished them.
They say, 'We lost our lives, but who will bear witness to those who were lost?'
They say, 'Our deaths are not ours, they are yours. They will mean what you make them.'
They say, 'Whether our lives and our deaths will lead to real change and a new hope, or for nothing, we cannot say. It is you who must say this.'
They say, 'We leave you our deaths, Give them their meaning. We were your fellow Kentuckians, your neighbors, your countrymen, your friends, your co-workers, your family. 'We have died,' they say. 'Remember us.' "

In his closing prayer, Wirtschafter asked God to "guide our deeply divided state in the sacred cause of reclaiming our sense of common humanity. Teach us to overcome the anger, fear, hatred and recklessness that all too often made the hospitalizations and deaths higher than they had to be. Remind us that denial can never cure disease, and that distortions can never change facts."

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Pandemic memorial at Capitol to be dedicated Wednesday

The memorial is pictured on Monday, after the final sod had been laid and watered. The Capitol steps are in the background on the right. (Kentucky Health News photo by Al Cross; click on it to enlarge)

The state's permanent memorial to Kentucky vicims of the Covid-19 pandemic will be dedicated at 2 p.m. Wednesday on the grounds of the state Capitol.

The memorial – titled “United We Stand. Divided We Fall,” after the state motto – was designed and sculpted by Kentucky native Amanda Matthews, artist and chief executive officer of Lexington's Prometheus Foundry.

“This phenomenal new memorial honors the 18,653 Kentuckians lost during this once-a-century pandemic,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a press release. “It will stand in a place of prominence in the Capitol Monument Park for generations to come so that they might learn about the great challenges we faced and how Kentuckians came together during this crisis.”

Matthews said her work "captures the ideals and visual symbols of our state motto and seal in three-dimensional form. Most important to the concept are the diverse people of Kentucky and their fear and grief during the time of Covid, yet their strength and hope for better days."

The memorial's center is encircled by green lights, symbolizing empathy and compassion for the Kentuckians lost throughout the pandemic; white lights shine through the night until sunrise.

The memorial has several semi-abstract human figures
of varying sizes. (Commonwealth of Kentucky photo)

The human figures in the memorial each have a small bell in a cutout where the heart would be. The dedication will begin with the chiming of bells by Kandie Adkinson, a longtime employee in the secretary of state’s office, recalling Beshear's request early in the pandemic that Kentuckians ring bells at 10 a.m. each day "so that those who were feeling alone would know we were with them," the release says. For months, each weekday at 10 a.m. in the Capitol rotunda, Adkinson rang her father’s bell 120 times to honor those lost in each county. 

The memorial's final design was selected by an advisory panel of health-care workers, Covid-19 survivors, and family members and loved ones of victims.

“The Covid-19 Memorial is a beautiful way to honor all those we loved dearly,” panel member Jacqueline Woodward said. “It will ensure future generations remember the dedicated Kentuckians we lost during this tragic pandemic that impacted so many lives. May the memorial be another means to bring comfort and peace to those who lost a loved one. I feel truly blessed to be a part of this project.”

Woodward will speak at the dedication, along with Dr. Jason Smith, chief medical officer at UofL Health, who will talk about the impact of Covid-19 in the state and the memorial’s creation.

“This memorial honors the thousands of Kentuckians we lost throughout the pandemic,” Smith said in the release. “It also represents the strength of our commonwealth and our citizens to join together, support each other and persevere. The pandemic revealed many heroes. In particular, it shines a light on the incredible work of our health-care workers, who put themselves on the front line to protect and heal our community. This memorial is a symbol of hope and stands as a reminder that our work towards keeping our state safe is not done.”

Beshear will speak about the two main legacies of the pandemic in Kentucky, the release said, quoting him in advance: “One is loss. In a little more than three years, this evil virus caused the deaths of more than 1.1 million Americans, including more than 18,600 Kentuckians. But this memorial also reflects a second legacy of Covid, and that’s the unity and coming together that saved tens of thousands of lives and ultimately allowed us to end the pandemic. We, as Kentuckians, answered the call in times of tragedy and lived out our faith and values: living for one another, loving our neighbors as ourselves and being the Good Samaritans helping those in need.”

The release said "the primary donors" to the memorial fund were most of the state's leading hospital systems: Norton Healthcare, Baptist Health, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, King’s Daughters Health System, UofL Health, University of Kentucky and Pikeville Medical Center. It concludes, "Numerous private donations rounded out the funding and no tax dollars were used."

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Ky. kids still aren't as immunized as they were before pandemic; pertussis threat rises; cancer-preventing vaccine rates still low

Slide from state epidemiologist's presentation at Immunize Kentucky's Immunization Summit shows Kentucky's overall rate of immunization against childhood diseases is lower than all bordering states.

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

The Immunize Kentucky Coalition's Immunization Summit, held May 10 in Lexington, opened with a warning that Kentucky's children fell behind on their immunizations during the pandemic and still haven't caught up. 

State Epidemiologist Kathleen Winter
(Photos by Melissa Patrick)

Citing 2021-22 school immunization data, State Epidemiologist Kathleen Winter said Kentucky is behind all its bordering states in routine childhood vaccination rates and is well below the national average. 

The greatest concern right now is kindergartners, she said, because their measles-mumps-rubella vaccination rate has dropped in the last two school years. (MMR rates among seventh and 11th-graders remained about the same, but that's no surprise, since two doses of the vaccine are recommended before a child turns 6.) 

"We really need to focus on this particular age group that maybe has missed vaccines . . . because of the pandemic," Winter said. 

Winter said Kentucky's kindergarten two-dose MMR rate of 86.5% ranks in the bottom five states nationally. The national rate is 93.5%. The National Immunization Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which runs behind school data, shows that Kentucky's decline in immunization is similar to a national decline.

Regular well-child visits help parents and health-care providers keep children current on immunizations. Winter said one study found that 41% of Kentucky parents of children 12 and younger reported their child had missed a well-child visit during the pandemic. This rate was even higher among Hispanics (48%). 

"We're getting back on track with routine visits now, but we still have not caught up for where we had this big decline during the pandemic months," Winter said. 

Winter said there are "dramatic differences" in immunization rates between those who have private health insurance, publicly paid insurance, and those who are uninsured.

The National Immunization Survey for the recommended seven-vaccine series for children under 2 shows that 78% of children with private insurance had received all of them, but only 64.3% of those on Medicaid had received all of them, and only 45.2% of uninsured children had. 

"There's some real work to be done with these vulnerable populations, not just here in Kentucky, but nationwide," Winter said.

Pertussis concerns

Since 2018, fewer Kentucky children have received the DTap or Tdap vaccines, which protect against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (whooping cough). Rates among kindergarteners and 11th graders have been "pretty stable," but there has been a steady decline among seventh graders since 2018, with rates between 80% and 85%, Winter said.

The United States has a spike in pertussis about every five years, Winter said, noting there was a "major epidemic" in 2012 and "We are well positioned to have another one." 

She added, "We are concerned about this in particular because we have had outbreaks of pertussis reported this year; several counties have already noticed outbreaks. . . . So this is the time we really need to focus on getting kids vaccinated for pertussis."

Cancer-prevention vaccine rates are low

 

According to the CDC, human papillomavirus (HPV) is a very common virus that can cause cancer -- and the HPV vaccine can prevent more than 90% of cancers caused by it, including cervical cancer. But only 57% of Kentucky teens have taken it. 

"Kentucky is another state that really needs to be worried about HPV," Winter said. "We have some of the highest rates of cervical cancer here in Kentucky."

Even more concerning, said Winter, is that fewer than half Kentucky females are up-to-date on HPV vaccines and two-thirds of them haven't gotten a single dose of the vaccine, which is given in a three-dose series. Kentucky ranks 37th among the states for this measure. 

HPV can also cause cancers of the vagina, vulva, penis, anus, rectum, throat and the back of the tongue. The CDC reports that each year, about 47,199 new cases of cancer are found in parts of the body where HPV is often found. Of those, about 37,300 of them are caused by HPV.

Covid-19 vaccines still available and free

Winter noted that the end of the national public-health emergency for Covid-19 means that getting Kentuckians vaccinated against the disease has become normalized.

And because the now single-dose bivalent vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months and older, Winter said it needs to be considered a routine childhood vaccination. 

"We have to routinize it in every way possible, routinize it for our conversations with parents and for routine childhood visits, getting it incorporated fully into the childhood schedule," she said. 

That's not not being done yet, the data shows.

"When we look specifically at children, 94% of those under the age of 5 have never been vaccinated against Covid and 74% of children in the 5- to 11-year age group have never been vaccinated," Winter said. "So we are still not making this routine for children. It's not being offered and provided in the settings that it  needs to be offered and provided." 

Winter also stressed that Covid-19 vaccines are still readily available and free, even though the commercialization of the vaccine is expected to come in late summer or fall. 

"This is why we need to work now to get this routinized as much as we can into clinics and settings where people are routinely getting vaccinated," she said. 

She added that the latest guidance is for people 65 and older to get an additional booster and that guidance for everyone else is likely coming. 

Vaccinations work

Winter said the measles exposure that thousands of people had in February at the spontaneous revival at Asbury University in Wilmore turned out to be a public-health success story.

An unvaccinated Jessamine County resident who attended the revival in Februrary had Kentucky's third reported case of measles in three months, but Winter said there has not been one secondary measles case from that exposure. She noted that the person with measles wore a surgical-type mask at "a lot" of the events. 

"The reality is, most people are immune to measles," Winter said. "Most people are fully vaccinated or had measles as a child. So we do not have this crisis of a population-level issue. What we have are targeted individuals and ages where we need to get back on track. So, this is where we need to focus."

Even with this public-health victory, Winter cautioned that without a high level of population immunity, the potential for a super-spreading event would remain. 

Organizers of the summit hope it will be an annual event. Amber Malott, chair of the Immunize Kentucky Coalition, which is part of the Kentucky Rural Health Association, said its mission is to "create equitable access to vaccinations across the commonwealth." As part of that mission, she said they will hold free pediatric immunization symposiums in Morehead June 20 and Owensboro June 29.

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