- Colorado: Centura Health in May will open a primary care clinic in Clear Creek County, Colorado, bringing health care back to the rural community of roughly 9,000 people. Currently, there is no doctor's office or hospital within miles of towns located in the county. The sole source of care for the communities—and the thousands of drivers who pass through each day—is an emergency medical provider. The Centura clinic will open in a building where a practice formerly operated, before shutting down in 2011 because of staffing issues (Finnegan, FierceHealthcare, 2/15).
- Georgia: Emory Transplant Center performed a kidney transplant from a deceased HIV-positive donor to an HIV-positive recipient—the first such procedure to occur in the state, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle. The HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act took effect in 2015, revising rules that made it a federal crime to use HIV-positive organs. Emory is one of the centers that are participating in the HOPE in Action clinical trial, under which researchers are evaluating the safety of solid organ transplants from HIV-positive deceased donors to HIV-positive recipients (Hensley, Atlanta Business Chronicle, 2/15).
- New Jersey: Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Wednesday signed a bill that aims to curb the state's opioid epidemic. The bill caps initial opioid prescriptions at a five-day supply and requires insurers to cover inpatient and outpatient substance use treatment. The prescription drug cap would not apply to patients with cancer, patients with chronic pain, or end-of-life care (AP/Sacramento Bee, 2/15).
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