NEWS
By Timothy B. Wheeler | October 2, 2009
The first shipments of swine flu vaccine should start arriving in Maryland by Tuesday, but the initial batch will be so limited that the doses will be offered mainly to health care workers in hospitals and clinics, state health officials say. The state is getting just 31,600 doses of vaccine to start, according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - only about 1 percent of what's needed to vaccinate all the children and vulnerable adults that...
NEWS
By Sarah Fisher | July 2, 2009
A year into a new effort to expand health coverage, recession-weary Marylanders are flocking to the state's Medicaid program in numbers far greater than expected, costing the state $50 million more in the process. As of this week, 44,255 additional state residents had enrolled in Maryland's Medicaid system after income limits were significantly relaxed, outpacing projections that enrollment would increase by 26,605. Officials say the economic downturn has swelled the ranks of the unemployed, driving more people than expected into the public plan.
NEWS
By Jennifer Skalka | September 19, 2007
The Maryland State Police are requiring people who want to buy firearms to sign a release allowing authorities to check whether they have ever resided in a state mental health institution for 30 days or more. In the wake of the Virginia Tech killings this year, Gov. Martin O'Malley and state Health Secretary John M. Colmers gave their blessing to the state police to broaden the firearms application -- an effort, officials said, to prevent the mentally ill from obtaining guns. Before the change, "we were relying on your honesty as an applicant that you were telling us the truth about your mental health history," said Greg Shipley, a spokesman for the state police.
NEWS
By ANDREW A. GREEN AND JOHN FRITZE | July 18, 2006
The top Maryland gubernatorial candidates focused on improving the state's health care system yesterday, with Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announcing a new program to expand access for the working poor and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley unveiling a plan to attract and retain nurses. Speaking at a health clinic in Park Heights, Ehrlich announced the start of a program that will allow about 22,000 more low- to moderate-income Marylanders to get free primary health care with little additional investment from the state.
NEWS
By KELLY BREWINGTON | January 24, 2006
Claiming Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. unfairly targeted immigrants when he slashed a Medicaid benefit last year, attorneys for 13 families asked a Montgomery County judge yesterday to force the state to cover the plaintiffs' health care costs. It is the latest skirmish in a battle between the administration and advocates for 13 children, who say the plaintiffs have suffered since the $7 million program was eliminated July 1. Circuit Judge Durke G. Thompson granted an injunction two weeks ago, ordering the state to re-instate the program for the plaintiffs and to pay their health care costs dating back to July.
NEWS
By Erika Niedowski | January 7, 2005
Just as flu activity has begun to pick up in Maryland, state health officials are relaxing restrictions on those eligible to receive vaccine to prevent it. Following the lead of the nation's top public health agency, the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced yesterday that everyone age 50 and older should be able to get a shot. Because of the nationwide vaccine shortage, vaccinations had been limited on a voluntary basis to those 64 and older, those with chronic illnesses, pregnant women, children younger than 2 and health care workers.
NEWS
BY A SUN STAFF WRITER | January 6, 2005
Dr. Michelle A. Gourdine, Baltimore County's top health official for nearly a decade, has been appointed deputy secretary of public health services for the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, according to state officials. The appointment by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. will take effect Feb. 1. Gourdine, a board-certified pediatrician, has served as the county's health officer since 1995 and oversees about 550 employees and a $44 million budget, county officials said. As deputy secretary, Gourdine, 42, will oversee seven areas of the state health agency, including those dealing with alcohol and drug abuse, AIDS and community health.
NEWS
By Doug Donovan | October 5, 2004
Opponents of proposed cuts to state health programs criticized Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. yesterday for threatening drastic reductions in medical services for the poor. Members of Health Care for All Coalition, a nonprofit organization that advocates for improving health care coverage for Marylanders, gathered for a news conference and rally at the Men's Health Center on North Avenue with several elected officials and public health leaders. The group is trying to garner opposition to the state Health Department's proposed $480 million in cuts that, if enacted, would make thousands of children ineligible for free health insurance coverage and close four mental health facilities.
NEWS
By David Nitkin | September 23, 2004
The state health department has drafted a $480 million list of potential program cuts that, if enacted, would deprive thousands of children of free health insurance coverage and shutter four mental health facilities, and could force women to pay for their own laboratory tests after rapes, according to documents obtained yesterday by The Sun. "It basically tells people if you are sick, leave the state," said Sen. Paula C. Hollinger, a nurse and chairwoman of...
NEWS
By David Nitkin | September 23, 2004
A veteran federal official who held department management posts in the Reagan and first Bush administrations was nominated by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. yesterday to replace departing state health secretary Nelson J. Sabatini. S. Anthony McCann, 61, would earn $155,000 a year as secretary of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, a job he is scheduled to start next month. The department manages more than $6 billion in state and federal funds, including nearly $4 billion for Medicaid programs, and is viewed as a probable source of spending cuts as Ehrlich seeks to balance the budget without new taxes.