As President Donald Trump's picks to lead federal health agencies await confirmation hearings, there are now acting directors in place at HHS and its key sub-agencies. [MedPage Today]

Here is what is known about who is currently running the show at these sprawling and influential entities.

HHS Acting Secretary: Dorothy Fink, MD

Fink is deputy assistant secretary for women's health and director of the Office on Women's Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at HHS. She is board certified  in endocrinology, internal medicine, and pediatrics.

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According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, 67 active TB cases and 79 latent cases have been reported since the beginning of 2024 in Wyandotte and Johnson counties. Separately, a rare strain of bird flu has been detected at a farm in California’s Merced County. [KFF Health News & CIDRAP]

CIDRAP: Kansas Tuberculosis Outbreak Now Largest In USA tuberculosis (TB) outbreak in Kansas City has become the largest documented TB outbreak on record in the United States. Data on the outbreak from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) show that 67 active TB cases and 79 latent cases have been reported since the beginning of 2024 in Wyandotte and Johnson counties, which are part of the greater Kansas City area. Most of the cases have been in Wyandotte County. KDHE says it has been working with local health departments in response to the outbreak and is following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to ensure patients are receiving proper treatment. (Dall, 1/27)

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The Chicago Department of Public Health has launched an awareness campaign for the state’s expansion of Medicaid coverage through 12 months postpartum. [Health News Illinois]

The effort, backed by the state’s Departments of Public Health and Healthcare and Family Services, includes a new website and work with community partners to ensure Chicagoans know about available health services.

“At CDPH, we aim to educate and inform qualifying residents of the full context of coverage that is available to them through Medicaid,” Chicago health Commissioner Dr. Olusimbo Ige said in a statement.

The push is the latest effort by state leaders to address Illinois’ maternal health crisis. A 2023 IDPH report found Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related medical conditions than white women.

IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said the state’s Healthy Illinois 2028 plan has maternal and infant health as one of its key priorities. 

“This extension of Medicaid coverage through one year after delivery promises to bring measurable improvements in the health of postpartum Illinoisans and their families,” he said.

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A few years before the covid-19 pandemic, Dale Rice lost a toe to infection. [KFF Health News] 

- This story also ran on States Newsroom. It can be republished for free.

But because he was uninsured at the time, the surgery at a Reno, Nevada, hospital led to years of anguish. He said he owes the hospital more than $20,000 for the procedure and still gets calls from collection agencies.

“It can cause a lot of anxiety,” Rice said. “I can’t give you what I don’t have.”

Rice, 62, was born and has spent his life in Nevada. He said he fell through a gap in the tribal health care system because he lives 1,500 miles from the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation home area in eastern Kansas, where he’s an enrolled member.

He receives primary care at the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony tribal health clinic in Nevada, but structural barriers in the federal Indian Health Service left him without coverage for specialty care outside of the clinic. Rice might have been eligible for specialty services referred by his tribe’s health system in Kansas, but he lives too far from the tribe’s delivery area to utilize the tribal health program that helps pay for services outside of the IHS.

“I shouldn’t need to move to Kansas City to be fully covered,” Rice said.

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National Maternal Health Day offers us an opportunity to reflect back on past wins and measure how far we've come in delivering better maternal healthcare to women. It also provides a moment to look ahead, to confront the challenges that have yet to be overcome and consider of all the women in the U.S. who, despite our nation's wealth and advancements, still struggle to access quality maternal health care. 

For this maternal health day, here is a patient story that highlights both the success and the challenges in maternal healthcare -- two stories, in fact, with radically different trajectories. These stories emphasize the need to listen to women, and drive home the importance of a standard approach to care that empowers mothers with objective, data-driven tools.

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Hospitalized adolescents have "unique and essential needs" that differ from those of younger pediatric inpatients, and it is critical that care teams have "knowledge, experience, and compassion" when it comes to addressing these specific needs, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) said in a new policy statement.

This statement marks the first of its kind published in the U.S., noted Cora Breuner, MD, MPH, of the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital, and colleagues in Pediatricsopens in a new tab or window. Overall, knowledge and understanding of adolescent growth and development, as well as the legal and ethical issues that affect this population, are essential to delivering comprehensive care to hospitalized teens.

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The percentages of Chicagoans vaccinated against influenza and COVID-19 this winter have been lower than in recent years, according to a report released last week by the city’s Department of Public Health. [Health News Illinois]

Just 23.3 percent of Chicagoans have received a flu shot this season, the lowest rate in the past four years. About 11.8 percent have received COVID-19 vaccines, down 1.4 percent from last year. 

The data, recorded Dec. 28, show vaccine uptake is lower across almost all age groups and is lower or similar across most community areas, compared to last year. 

Influenza vaccination rates are higher in northside communities, while rates on the city’s south and west sides are lower. The department says vaccine uptake has improved in some neighborhoods on the south and west side.

The geographic disparities also exist for COVID-19 vaccination uptake, though the report found less than 10 percent of residents in most neighborhoods across the city have received their shot.

The department said respiratory viral activity is high, causing “high volumes of (emergency department) visits, hospitalizations and (intensive care unit) admissions.”

COVID-19 levels are lower than at this point last year, but emergency department visits and hospitalizations related to the virus have risen in recent weeks.

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   National Day of Service  & Martin Luther King Jr. Day 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration published updated crisis care guidance for 2025, designed to reflect the transition to the 988 Lifeline. {SAMHSA & Becker's]

In a Jan. 15 news release, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said the guidance is designed to help communities "continue to develop and enhance their behavioral health crisis services." 

"Everyone in this country, no matter who they are or where they live, should have access to crisis care for mental health and substance use issues," Mr. Becerra said. 

Here are five changes to note: 

1. The agency updated three components of the behavioral health crisis system for 2025. The essential components include 988 and other behavioral health lines, mobile crisis and outreach services and emergency and crisis stabilization services. 
   
   
2. The 2025 guidelines outline a general approach rather than providing a universal toolkit for every organization. 
   
   
3. The new guidelines place more emphasis on follow-up services, care coordination and critical service interventions. 
   
4. The updated guidance also emphasizes support for whole-person and family system care.
   
   
5. SAMHSA also published an implementation toolkit for mobile crisis team services. Public comments on the guidance are being accepted through March 21. 

Read the full guidance here. 

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