• District of Columbia: The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Erica Schwartz as CDC director, making her the agency's first permanent director in almost a year. Schwartz replaces Susan Monarez, who was confirmed as director last July before being ousted roughly a month later. Schwartz previously served as deputy surgeon general during the first Trump administration, and before that she was a physician in the Navy and CMO in the Coast Guard. President Donald Trump nominated Schwartz as CDC director in April, following stints from other federal health officials as acting director of the agency. The Senate confirmed Schwartz as CDC director in a 51-44 vote. "As CDC director, my sacred responsibility is to provide the American people with public health guidance that is clear, honest and evidence-based," Schwartz said during a meeting with the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee last month. "I will never betray the science." (Bendix, NBC News, 8/5; Cirruzzo, STAT, 8/5)
• District of Columbia: The American Red Cross has declared a national blood supply crisis after blood donations across the country fell to a four-year summer low — marking the second time this has ever happened. According to the Red Cross, it currently has less than a one-day supply of type O positive blood, which is the most common blood type used in transfusions. "Some doctors are going to have to make some critical decisions, right? They're going to have to decide where the blood is going to go," said Joanne Krekian, from the Red Cross. "When it's your loved one who needs a blood transfusion, it's not something you want to be waiting for." Healthcare organizations, including those that help facilitate blood donations, have also reported low supplies. The Red Cross has called for donors of all blood types to donate, with the organization offering different thank you gifts like movie passes or Amazon gift cards for people if they donate before Aug. 31. "If three more people show up for every blood drive for the rest of the summer, we will eliminate this shortage," Krekian said. (LeCour, The Hill, 7/30)
• New York: Teladoc Health is launching a new virtual care model for employers and health plans called Teladoc One. The model is designed to provide members with a more coordinated, personalized approach to care. Teladoc care teams will deliver and coordinate care across virtual settings and in partnership with local providers. The model also ties payment to clinical and financial outcomes. "Success will be measured through improvements in condition control, medication adherence, care plan engagement, and follow-up, alongside reductions in medical costs, unnecessary referrals, ER visits, hospitalizations, and more appropriate medication and site-of-care decisions," Ethan Berke, Teladoc's CMO. "Because Teladoc One places 100% of its fees at risk, its success is directly tied to delivering validated medical cost savings and improved clinical outcomes." Programs under the Teladoc One model will initially launch in September for a group of enterprise customers before rolling out to the company's broader userbase in January 2027. (Landi, Fierce Healthcare, 7/23)

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