Stroke hospitalizations in your county

Attn: Health & medicine writers, City Desk Editors, et.al.

CDC and CMS have combined their resources to produce county-level statistics for stroke hospitalizations for blacks, Hispanics and whites who are age 65 and older.

Data for hospitals in each of the country’s 3,151 counties is accessed by clicking on a state (or drop-down menu of the states) that appears in an interactive map of the U.S., then clicking on the desired counties.

This is an opportunity to remind readers and viewers that stroke is the third-leading cause of death for men and women, and a major cause of serious, long-term disability.

Closer to home, the database shows which (if any) hospitals in your county provide emergency room services and/or treatment for stroke.

The CMS data show that approximately 21% of U.S. counties do not have a hospital that’s equipped for stroke treatment, 31% do not have hospitals that can provide emergency room treatment for stroke victims, and 77% counties do not have a hospital that provides neurology services.

NOTE: The CDC press release cited here is among more than 100 press releases from government agencies, congressional offices and advocacy groups which are featured in today’s edition of Government Policy Newslinks. Sign-up today for a no-obligation trial subscription.

 

EPA libraries rise from the ashes

Attn: Environmental writers, et.al.

Only modest attention was paid last year when the Environmental Protection Agency trashed its regional libraries, emptying their bookshelves of bothersome scientific studies and nettlesome technical reports that could be cited by environmentalists in regulatory proceedings and litigation. EPA described the shutdowns as an effort to achieve cost-saving consolidations in the face of a pending $2 million funding cut.

Now, with a $1 million appropriation attached to a congressional mandate to reopen them, the EPA said in a little-noted report to Congress last week that 7 of its 10 regional libraries have been reopened to walk-in traffic, and the remaining libraries, including those at its Washington headquarters, could be back in business by September 30.

A whistleblowers’ group obtained a 6-page EPA progress report which was delivered to Capitol Hill last week, and put it on its website (see Government Policy Newslinks, March 31). In its analysis of the report, the group said that EPA’s regional and headquarters libraries have been stripped down to their “core reference materials” and that the acquisition of additional materials will be subject to a political clearance process that EPA euphemistically refers to as “network standards.”

EPA’s Chief Information Officer Molly O’Neill is overseeing the development of “a strategic planning effort” to chart the future direction of the EPA libraries and public access practices, the report says.