By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon In the first case of its kind in Colorado, a former Jefferson County teacher has won an undisclosed cash settlement and concessions from the school where she said she lost her job for taking breaks to pump her breast milk. Under the 2008 Colorado Nursing Mothers Act, breastfeeding mothers in Colorado are entitled to take time in a private location to express milk at work. Colorado is one of 24 states with laws that support breastfeeding mothers in the workplace. The right to pump milk at work is also now guaranteed under the federal Affordable Care…
Category: Health and Wellness - Part 11
By Julie Poppen of Education News Colorado Politicians descended on Denvers Lowry Elementary Monday to eat fresh veggies grown at school as part of a healthy lunch, tour the schools impressive gardens and even dance to the left with people half their size. It was all part of the U.S. Department of Educations third annual back-to-school bus tour, which featured the nations schools chief Arne Duncan joining forces with Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and other politicians to tout the importance of healthy school lunches and increased exercise during the school day. If kids are healthy, they…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon GREENWOOD VILLAGE Infant formula should be tracked and locked at all hospitals just like other supplies and pharmaceuticals, experts said Tuesday during the first-ever Colorado Hospital Breastfeeding Summit. Studies in Colorado have found that nine of 10 mothers want to breastfeed their babies, and unnecessary use of infant formula in the early hours and days of newborns lives can derail mothers plans, according to breastfeeding expert and parenting author, Dr. Marianne Neifert, also known as Dr. Mom. In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is fighting obesity by limiting soda serving sizes and calling for formula to…
By Diane Carman Hunter Doherty Patch Adams is a physician who has never made a penny from medicine. He treats patients with laughter and loving, and he rebels openly against the tyranny of market capitalism. He said he is ashamed of the U.S. health care system. Its not about health. Its not about care. And its not a system, its a business. Adams spoke at the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria campus Wednesday, challenging his audience to join his revolution of joy for the sake of their own well-being and that of the planet. You can decide to never…
By James O. Hill Every day we get inundated with information about what to eat, but unfortunately, that information is often confusing and conflicting. Eat a diet high in carbohydrate and low in fat. No wait. Eat a diet low in carbohydrate and high in fat. I dont blame the public for being confused. What is the best diet? You may be surprised to know that the best diet for you depends on whether you are an athlete or a couch potato. Being physically active keeps your metabolism working optimally and affects the way your body uses food for fuel….
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon Six students in crisis flooded the counseling center on the first day of school this fall at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Last year, the number of UCCS students who needed emergency or crisis counseling tripled over the year before. And the director of the campus counseling center says the number of students seeking care has been steadily rising along with the student population in recent years. In Boulder at CU, the number of students seeking counseling has been steadily climbing for eight years and last year the schools psychological and counseling services center treated…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon An unusual summer spike of whooping cough cases in Colorado has prompted health experts here to declare an epidemic and call for both children and adults to get immunized. A strong anti-vaccine movement in Colorado has meant that the state has lagged behind the rest of the country on many immunizations. Only about 85 percent of children and adults who should be protected from whooping cough are fully vaccinated. So far this year, Colorado health officials have tracked 715 cases of whooping cough, also known as pertussis. That compares to an average of just 158 cases…
By Ashley Mayo With all of the politics surrounding the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, its easy to lose sight of the ways the law is fundamentally improving health care in Colorado and across America. In our state alone, 291,000 children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied coverage, 50,000 young adults have gained insurance by staying on their parents plans, and over 200,000 residents will receive rebate checks from insurers who failed to meet the 80/20 rule. On Aug. 1, Obamacare brings yet another historic reform: insurance companies must cover preventive services for women without…
By Polly Anderson Critics of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act call it too radical, too expensive and a threat to high quality medicine. But in truth, federal health reform emphasizes a return to the caring, personalized, evidence-based medicine that is well established at Colorados community health centers. While some are still debating the merits of expanding Colorados Medicaid program to a larger percentage of the poor, Colorado community health centers are not waiting to move forward. A growing pool of evidence tells us that our model is the future, and were preparing for a groundswell in patients, be…
By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon AURORA The Colorado community devastated by a mass killing will now become one of only four sites selected for the most promising revolution in health care: hotspotting. The movement began with a different senseless shooting in 2001 in Camden, N.J., a city that tops the country for both crime and poverty. Its a place filled with urban ruins, where a tree is shooting up through a once-stately Carnegie library, where budget cuts recently forced the layoffs of half the police department and where gunshots frequently pierce the night sky. We also end up with all the…