Public Health Scene

Government officials have failed to adequately address protections for coal miners and for the delivery of coal during a pandemic. That’s according to a report from the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, or CIDRAP.

CIDRAP researcher Nick Kelley says that the coal industry must have safeguards to keep water and sewerage systems running, lights on, and critical drugs available during an inevitable pandemic.

Kelley adds that most first responders depend on electricity to do their job.

• Listen to Kelley on our Public Health Moment podcast

Posted by Mark Engebretson at 8:11 AM
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Beloved SPH prof. James Rothenberger passed away Dec. 8. He was 61.

“For someone as young as Jim, he had over the years become an institution within the SPH and the State of Minnesota having taught public health to tens of thousands of undergraduate and graduate students since 1969,” wrote Dean John R. Finnegan, Jr.

“As I have traveled around the state representing the SPH, I almost inevitably would hear these words from someone: ‘Do you know Jim Rothenberger? I took a course from him once. He was one of the best teachers I ever had!’”

Read Finnegan's letter to SPH faculty, staff, and students

Register to receive e-mail updates about the memorial service

Post your own remembrance of Rothenberger in Comments

Posted by Mark Engebretson at 12:46 PM
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Flu season is upon us. Each year about 200,000 Americans are hospitalized with complications from influenza and about 36,000 people die each year.

The best prevention is to get a flu shot, says Ed Ehilinger, director and chief health officer at the University of Minnesota’s Boynton Health Service. In this segment of Public Health Scene, he explains who is most at risk.

In addition, Ehlinger discusses the results a recent studh he co-authored, which found students who receive flu shots not only miss fewer classes but also do better on tests and coursework.

Listen to Ehlinger

Posted by Mark Engebretson at 3:13 PM
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Minnesota's hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes consistently rank among the best in the nation in federal quality ratings. But when it comes to home-health care, the picture is surprisingly bleak, the Star Tribune reported Nov. 28.

On quality measures compiled by the federal government, Minnesota's 202 Medicare-certified home health care agencies appear to be among the worst in the nation.

"If I were the state, I'd put somebody to work to find out what's going on,'' said Dr. Robert Kane (pictured), who heads the Center on Aging at the University of Minnesota. "Is something badly wrong? We don't know, but we ought to."

More from the Star Tribune

Posted by Mark Engebretson at 4:01 PM
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