Phoenix Rural Health to take over Jellico Hospital after 2024 closure
Jellico Hospital shut down in March 2024, forcing patients to travel long distances for medical care. One patient told 6 News that she had to drive all the way to Knoxville to get stitches for her son.
Former patients of TN-based clinics now eligible for compensation
Pheonix Rural Health, from Jamestown, describes itself as 'an organization created to save struggling rural hospitals.'
In August, the Board of Mayor and Alderman voted for Community Hospital Management to take control of the hospital. However, in November, they voted 4-3 not to continue lease negotiations after hearing from outside council, according to LaFollette Press. The video of the meeting shows that they had concerns such as the length of the term and the lack of a termination option for the city, among other issues.
Military helicopter training at Downtown Island Airport unsettles area residents
The city voted to sign PRH in January.
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Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
New malaria drug for newborn babies offers hope to parents, health workers in Uganda
Alice Nekesa did not know she was infected with malaria-causing parasites until it was too late. She was in the fourth month of pregnancy last year when she started bleeding, a miscarriage later attributed to untreated malaria in her. The Ugandan farmer said recently that she regretted the loss of what would have been her second child 'because I didn't discover malaria and treat it early'. Variations of such cases are commonly reported by Ugandan health workers who witness stillbirths or feverish babies that die within days from undiagnosed malaria. The deaths are part of a wider death toll tied to the mosquito-borne disease, the deadliest across Africa, but one easily treated in adults who seek timely medical care. Until recently, a major gap in malaria treatment was how to care for newborns and infants infected with malaria who weren't strong enough to receive regular medication. That changed last month when Swiss medical regulators approved medicine from the Basel-based pharmaceutical company Novartis for babies weighing between 2 and 5 kilograms (about two to five kilograms). Swissmedic said the treatment, a sweet-tasting tablet that dissolves into a syrup when dropped into liquids like breast milk, was approved in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) under a fast-track authorisation process to help developing countries access much-needed treatment. Africa's 1.5 billion people accounted for 95 per cent of an estimated 597,000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2023, according to the WHO. More than three-quarters of those deaths were among children. Related Malaria cases surged to 263 million last year amid stalled progress to stop mosquito-borne illness In Uganda, an east African country of 45 million people, there were 12.6 million malaria cases and nearly 16,000 deaths in 2023. Many were children younger than five and pregnant women, the WHO said. Nigeria, Congo, and Uganda – in that order – are the African countries most burdened by malaria, a parasitic disease transmitted to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes that thrive and breed in stagnant water. The drug approved by Swiss authorities, known as Coartem Baby in some countries and Riamet Baby in others, is a combination of two antimalarials. It is a lower dose version of a tablet previously approved for other age groups, including for older children. Before Coartem Baby, antimalarial drugs designed for older children were administered to small infants with careful adjustments to avoid overdose or toxicity. Ugandan authorities, who have been working to update clinical guidelines for treating malaria, say the new drug will be rolled out as soon as possible. It is not yet available in public hospitals. How the medicine could change malaria treatment The development of Coartem Baby has given hope to many, with local health workers and others saying the medicine will save the lives of many infants. Ronald Serufusa, the top malaria official for the district of Wakiso, which shares a border with the Ugandan capital of Kampala, said he believes Coartem Baby will be available 'very, very soon' and that one priority is sensitising the people adhering to treatment. Some private pharmacies already have access to Coartem Baby, 'flavored with orange or mango' to make it palatable for infants, he said. Related Scientists discover drug that could make human blood deadly to mosquitos in fight against malaria During the so-called malaria season, which coincides with rainy periods twice a year, long lines of sick patients grow outside government-run health centres across Uganda. Many are often women with babies strapped to their backs. Health workers now are trained to understand that 'malaria can be implicated among newborns,' even when other dangerous conditions like sepsis are present, Serufusa said. 'If they don't expand their investigations to also suspect malaria, then it goes unnoticed,' he said, speaking of health workers treating babies. The Malaria Consortium, a global nonprofit based in London, in a statement described the approval of Coartem Baby as 'a major leap forward for saving the lives of young children in countries affected by malaria'. In addition to Uganda, the drug will be rolled out in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Tanzania, the group said. Related West Nile virus, chikungunya, dengue: Tracking mosquito-borne illnesses across Europe Jane Nabakooza, a pediatrician with Uganda's malaria control programme, said she expects the government will make Coartem Baby available to patients free of charge, even after losing funding when the United States shrank its foreign aid programme earlier this year. Some malaria funding from outside sources, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, remains available for programmes such as indoor spraying to kill mosquitoes that spread the malaria-causing parasite. Because of funding shortages, 'we are focusing on those that are actually prone to severe forms of malaria and malaria deaths, and these are children under five years,' Nabakooza said.
Business Upturn
an hour ago
- Business Upturn
Fortis Healthcare signs O&M pact with Ekana Group for 550-bed super specialty hospital in Lucknow
By Aditya Bhagchandani Published on August 20, 2025, 22:29 IST Fortis Healthcare Ltd. on Wednesday announced that it has entered into an operations and management (O&M) agreement with Lucknow-based Ekana Group to run a 550-bed greenfield super specialty hospital coming up near Gomti Nagar, Lucknow. Once operational, the hospital will be positioned as a Centre of Excellence for tertiary care services, bringing advanced medical infrastructure and global best practices to Uttar Pradesh's capital. This marks Fortis Healthcare's third major presence in the state, after its facilities in Noida and Greater Noida. Dr. Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, MD & CEO of Fortis Healthcare, said the collaboration is a key step in strengthening the company's footprint: 'Once operational, this new 550-bed super-specialty hospital near Gomti Nagar will significantly enhance access to advanced medical care for the city and its surrounding regions. It underscores our steadfast commitment to expanding high-quality healthcare across the state.' Uday Sinha, promoter of Ekana Group, added: 'We are happy to join hands with one of India's leading healthcare chains to develop a cutting-edge tertiary care hospital, one that will deliver patient care where it's most needed.' Fortis Healthcare currently operates 33 facilities across 11 states with more than 5,700 operational beds, including O&M beds, and a network of over 400 diagnostics labs Ahmedabad Plane Crash Aditya Bhagchandani serves as the Senior Editor and Writer at Business Upturn, where he leads coverage across the Business, Finance, Corporate, and Stock Market segments. With a keen eye for detail and a commitment to journalistic integrity, he not only contributes insightful articles but also oversees editorial direction for the reporting team.
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
InnovationRx: Phil Knight's $2 Billion Cancer Gift
In this week's edition of InnovationRx, we look at Phil Knight's big cancer gift, Medallion's healthcare credentialing clearinghouse, a new treatment for fibromyalgia, and more. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here . Nike Founder Phil Knight Ethan Pines for Forbes N ike cofounder Phil Knight and his wife Penny donated $2 billion to Oregon Health & Science University's Knight Cancer Institute, the largest such pledge made to a university. Before this donation, announced last week, the couple had donated $600 million to the institute. Knight, 87, and his family are worth $35.6 billion, by Forbes' calculations. The gift will support the institute's ongoing research into cancer treatments and diagnostics, Brian Druker, who left the institute as CEO in December and will return as president with this gift, told Forbes. The federal government's cutbacks on research spending are 'horrible,' he said, but the infusion of money into the institute, 'might allow us to recruit some incredible people.' The Knights' gift is larger than Michael Bloomberg's $1.8 billion donation to Johns Hopkins in 2018. The institute also will focus on improving the care experience for cancer patients, taking the pressure off of them to navigate a labyrinthine system during one of the most challenging times of their lives. 'A patient gets a call, somebody tells them 'You've got cancer,' and then has them make 25 different appointments,' he said. 'And they've got to battle with their insurance company and they've got to talk to their employer about getting some medical leave.' Druker, a cancer researcher known for developing the drug Gleevac for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, hopes to take that burden from patients. 'You just show up at the appointment. You want a mental health consult? We got that. You want to get some help with nutrition? It's taken care of. We'll call your insurance company. We'll make sure we get the approvals you need. Imagine it being that simple so you could just focus on your care.' The Institute will spend the next few months working out how to make this kind of care navigation possible, and then roll it out. Medallion's Derek Lo Jasmin Kemp Photography D octors can only practice medicine in states where they're licensed. Then each insurer they work with needs to verify their credentials. It's a messy and time-consuming process that costs more than $1 billion each year. Medallion's Derek Lo figures that his software can cut through the system's redundancies, slashing the time and cost of paperwork designed to prevent quacks from practicing medicine and safeguard patients that's spiraled into something burdensome. 'It doesn't make sense to credential the same doctor 20 times and do it every three years across all these plans. There should be a single clearinghouse to standardize this,' he told Forbes . On Monday, the San Francisco-based startup launched a new clearinghouse, which it calls CredAlliance, to do just that, after months of building in stealth. To date, it has signed up a few dozen payers and, Lo said, five of the nation's 10 largest health plans are considering joining the alliance. Read more here. BIOTECH AND PHARMA Gene therapy startup Kriya Therapeutics raised $313 million from two undisclosed investors, according to an offering document filed with the SEC last Friday. That's a huge amount in today's difficult funding environment for biotech. Kriya's cofounder, chairman and CEO is Dr. Shankar Ramaswamy, who was previously an early employee at Roivant Science and chief business officer at Axovant, one of Roivant's so-called 'vants,' which focused on neurosciences and had a dramatic rise and fall. He is also the brother of Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican politician and billionaire biotech entrepreneur who founded Roivant. The Morrisville, N.C.-based company is working to treat a variety of chronic diseases, including type 1 diabetes and trigeminal neuralgia, a condition that causes constant facial pain. It has now raised a total of $931 million, according to VC database PitchBook. Trade publication BioSpace previously reported the funding. Plus : Tonix Pharmaceutics gained approval for the first new treatment for fibromyalgia, a disease that affects more than 10 million adults in the U.S., in more than 15 years. Its pill, called Tonyma, is a nonopioid analgesic designed to be absorbed into the bloodstream quickly. Tonix expects to launch the new drug in the fourth quarter. DIGITAL HEALTH AND AI Electronic health recordkeeping giant Epic is rolling out new AI tools for medical-care providers and patients. Led by Judy Faulkner, its 82-year-old billionaire founder, the company's technology is used by more than 3,000 hospitals, more than 71,000 clinics and some 325 million patients worldwide. At its annual users group meeting this week at its Verona, Wisconsin, headquarters, Epic executives said that among the new tools is a virtual assistant called Emmie that can answer patient questions a week before appointments to improve patient education. Read the whole story here. MEDTECH The FDA cleared a new device for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, which afflicts around 150,000 people in the U.S. each year with chronic facial pain. The minimally-invasive device from NeuroOne, a publicly traded device company with a market cap of $39 million, uses radiofrequency energy to destroy nerve fibers, interrupting their ability to signal pain to the brain. The company plans to begin selling the OneRF device in the fourth quarter. PUBLIC HEALTH AND HOSPITALS A leading pediatrician group said on Tuesday that infants and toddlers, aged 6 months to 23 months, should receive the COVID vaccine. The recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics–which has been releasing guidance about vaccinations since the 1930s–stands in contrast to the new federal guidance under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The group also chose not to participate in June's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices after criticizing Kennedy's decision to fire all of its existing members and replace them. WHAT WE'RE READING A man who relied on ChatGPT's advice to replace table salt with sodium bromide was hospitalized with hallucinations. Teenagers with progeria age ultrafast. The New Yorker looks at their lives, and the quest for a cure that could help–and shed light on why we grow old. Beleaguered gene therapy firm Sarepta sold off Arrowhead Pharmaceutical shares to raise cash. The single best way to reduce children's mortality among poverty-stricken families, according to a new decade-long study: Give them $1,000. How big data and a powerhouse board turned NYU Langone into a $14 billion hospital powerhouse. Shares of Viking Therapeutics plummeted 42% on Tuesday after the company revealed worse-than-expected clinical trial data for its weight-loss pill. The FDA approved Precigen's immunotherapy treatment Papzimeos for patients with a rare disease caused by HPV infection. A look at the flawed studies used by the father-son duo David and Mark Geier to 'prove' vaccines cause autism. MORE FROM FORBES Forbes Elon Musk's Self-Driving Tesla Lies Are Finally Catching Up To Him By Alan Ohnsman Forbes Elon Musk's xAI Published Hundreds Of Thousands Of Grok Chatbot Conversations By Iain Martin Forbes Meet The Ex-NASA Engineer Training Robots To Make Pre-Roll Joints By Will Yakowicz
